Unsaid Everything
by DHr2000
Summary: Hermione's nightmares keep her awake at night. Little does she realise that these nightmares are, in fact, Draco Malfoy's reality. Will he allow her to help him, before it's too late ?
1. Chapter One

Authors Note: I don't know if the title has anything to do with anything yet, it just seemed like a good idea at the time XD oh and the usual, I don't own the characters or anything  
  
---  
  
I groped blindly in front of me, searching for some end to this seemingly infinite blackness. I could tell that my hands were trembling, and tried desperately to pull myself together.   
  
Where the hell was I?  
  
It was not long before my eyes fastened on a thin white light. As I approached it, the light assumed the shape of the small crack of a slightly-open door. I pressed one eye carefully against the crack and peered into the bright room.  
  
"He's my son!"  
  
My eyes were still painfully adjusting to the light, making it impossible to see who the voice belonged to. I recognized it, but I had no idea where I had heard it before. I heard a second voice, one I didn't know, raised in anger.  
  
"I don't care if he's the son of You-Know-Who himself! We need a boy who is easy to access, and your son Draco is just that!"  
  
I suppressed an astonished gasp. The familiar voice it was...  
  
"Lucius, you and I both know who will win this war. It will be our Lord."  
  
"Yes, yes, I do know that, but..."  
  
"Our greatest threat is Albus Dumbledoor. You know this."  
  
"Of course."  
  
"And who better to provide us with the necessary information than one of his own students? It's the perfect opportunity, Lucius, and I do not intend to let it slip."  
  
My brain was working on over-drive. Malfoy was going to get involved in some kind of Death-Eater's plot? Against Dumbledoor?   
  
"I know all of this, but the consequences if Draco is caught are phenomenal! I know I must fulfill my duties to the Master, but I cannot let my son get involved."  
  
"Do you realise the consequences of this treachery?"  
  
"I do not doubt that the Dark Lord will prevail, my only doubt is in my son's ability to perform this task. He is only a sixth-year, after all."  
  
"He has the blood of the Malfoy's running through his veins, does he not?"  
  
"He has that."  
  
"Then it is on his head that we lay our hopes."  
  
I shivered, and wrapped my arms around myself. How had I got here? What kind of plot was this? I had barely the time to ask these questions when the light from the room grew blinding, and enveloped me completely.  
  
---  
  
I sat bold upright in bed, sweating.   
  
What the hell kind of dream was that?  
  
I took a few deep breaths, willing myself to calm down. It was only a dream, I told myself, only a weird, sick, twisted dream.   
  
Since when did I have dreams about Malfoy?  
  
I shook my head to clear it, and stumbled out of bed. Thankfully, it was a weekend, so I could take my time waking up before going down to breakfast.  
  
I blinked at myself in the bathroom mirror. Hair was bushy as always, although today my eyes were slightly red, and had dark circles beneath them. I glared at my reflection. I'd been sleeping soundly all night, dreaming or no, and yet my face was riddled with the tell-tale signs of lack of sleep. I splashed some cold water on my face and hoped the dark stains would fade quickly.  
  
---  
  
"Are you okay Hermione?"  
  
I looked up sharply to see Ron staring at me with a concerned expression on his face.  
  
"Of course. I'm fine. Why?"  
  
"Oh. No reason. You've just been staring at that same spoonful of porridge for the last ten minutes."  
  
I glanced back down at my soggy bowl of porridge. I knew I needed to eat something to make up for my apparent lack of sleep, but the cold porridge was certainly not holding much in the way of appeal. I pushed the bowl away and made to stand up.  
  
No sooner had I stood, I heard a familiar sneering voice behind me.   
  
"Oh, look at this! Hogwarts food too good for the mudblood, is it?"  
  
I whirled instantly at the insult, but Ron interrupted me.  
  
"He's not worth it, Hermione."  
  
Even though I knew Malfoy really wasn't worth my trouble, I was still sorely tempted to sink my fist into his ugly, smirking face. It was as I was glaring darkly at him that I noticed that he, too, had large dark stains beneath both of his eyes. They were also red-rimmed, as though he had been crying.  
  
On any other occasion, the idea of Malfoy crying for whatever reason would have delighted me, but my dream from the night before had left me with vivid memories.   
  
"What are you staring at, Granger?"   
  
I blinked myself out of my stupor and deepened my glare.  
  
"Nothing important."  
  
I brushed past him and made my way back up to Gryffindor tower, but all the way there I couldn't help but wonder what could have made Draco Malfoy cry. 


	2. Chapter Two

I stared at the celling above my four-poster bed, thinking about my dream.  
  
What was it about it that had disturbed me so? I had weird dreams all the time, and nothing life-threatening or anything had happened to me in this one. It was just that...  
  
It had seemed so real.  
  
"Hermione?"  
  
I looked up to see Harry hovering in the doorway. He looked concerned.  
  
"Are you sure you're all right Hermione? Ron said you didn't eat any breakfast. Weekends are perfect study time and you're lying around doing nothing! What's wrong?"  
  
"Nothing's wrong, Harry! I'm fine."  
  
I sat up and padded passed him, out to the common room. It was mostly empty, I realised, because it was a Hogsmeade weekend. I took a seat opposite Ron and asked why he and Harry weren't at Hogsmeade with the others.  
  
"Because we have a Potions essay due tomorrow. Two and a half lengths of parchment! There is no way I'm going to finish."  
  
"You mean, that essay on the components and purposes of the Alfonzo Sleeping potion?"  
  
"Yeah. You're going to say you did it three weeks ago aren't you?"  
  
"Four, actually."  
  
"I could've guessed as much."  
  
Harry came over and sat down next to Ron. He looked at me a moment and then shook his head.  
  
"Hermione, you look really, really, tired."  
  
I rolled my eyes.  
  
"I'm allowed to be tired, Harry. Doesn't mean there's something desperately wrong with me. Besides, tired or not, I can still help you with your potions."  
  
Harry and Ron glanced at each other, and then left it at that.  
  
---  
  
That evening, at dinner, I could barely keep my eyes open. After staring pointlessly at my untouched plate of lamb chops, I excused myself and went back up to Gryffindor tower.  
  
I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow  
  
---  
  
As soon as I opened my eyes, I knew where I was.  
  
I recognized the blackness, and I recognized the sliver of light coming from the doorway in front of me.  
  
I was back.  
  
I suppressed a shiver, and peered through the crack in the door.  
  
"Father...you want me to spy on Dumbledore?"  
  
My eyes widened, this time I was watching a conference between Draco and his father.  
  
"Draco, the fate of our rising lies in your hands. You must see to it that Dumbledore does not find out about any of our whereabouts, you must make sure that he is too...busy. With other things."  
  
Draco smiled like a snake.  
  
"In other words, you want me to keep him occupied until the attack is ready?"  
  
"Precisely. Can you do this?"  
  
"I can."  
  
I watched silently as Draco Malfoy left through a door at the back of the room. My attention was soon drawn back to Lucius as he sat heavily on an armchair and buried his face in his hands.  
  
A woman I assumed to be Draco's mother appeared and knelt down next to him.  
  
"He can do this, Lucius. Believe in him. He has a strong will."  
  
Lucius took his wife's hand and held it.  
  
"I would not like the idea of this plan being set upon any sixteen year old boy, my own son or not. It is much too risky. For all of us! But I can't make them see that."  
  
The pair embraced, and I noticed with a shock that Draco was standing quietly in the dark doorway from which he had left, tears streaming silently down his face.  
  
---  
  
"Hermione? Wake up! Wake up!"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
I opened my eyes slowly and glanced around. Lavender Brown was standing over me, a concerned look on her face.  
  
"I woke up and I could hear you thrashing around in your sleep, you started talking. Really really fast and frantic ... are you okay?"  
  
I was sick of people asking me if I was okay, but I appreciated her concern.  
  
"Yes. Yes, I'm fine. What time is it?"  
  
"It's about five thirty in the morning."  
  
"Okay. Thanks, Lavender."  
  
I waited until Lavender had crept silently back to her own bed, before I picked up Crookshanks and made my way down to the common room.  
  
The fire was dying, and it was still cold and dark outside. I was extremely tired, but afraid to go back to sleep. I didn't want to have another one of those dreams.  
  
I decided to write a letter to my parents, to fill the time. Then I would go up to the owlery to send it off. Hopefully, by the time I got back somebody else would be awake.   
  
---  
  
I figured that the owlery would be empty, and was surprised to find that it was occupied.  
  
The occupant was muttering to himself over a letter, although I couldn't tell what he was saying. When he turned suddenly to face me, I was shocked to find that it was Malfoy.  
  
"What the hell do you want, mudblood?"  
  
"I'm just sending a letter Malfoy, calm down."  
  
A sliver of moonlight from the window shone on his face, revealing what appeared to be tear-tracks. I spoke without thinking.  
  
"Are you alright?"  
  
Malfoy scowled at me.  
  
"What do you care, Granger? Why can't you mind your own business?"  
  
I was surprised to hear his voice was shaking slightly. He was trying very hard not to start crying again. I didn't know what to say.  
  
"You ... you look like you've been crying, is all."  
  
"I have not been crying!"  
  
"Muggle I may be but I'm not blind, Malfoy!"  
  
Malfoy took a step towards me, so we were standing face-to-face, almost touching.  
  
"Keep your nose out of my business, mudblood."  
  
And with that, he was gone. 


	3. Chapter Three

"Are you sure it was Malfoy's dad they were talking to?"  
  
"Positive. Besides, in my dream last night he was talking to Draco. Of course it was him."  
  
At breakfast that morning I finally gave in and told Harry and Ron about my dreams. The only part I had omitted was meeting Malfoy in the owlery earlier. I didn't know why, but I just didn't feel like they needed to know about it.  
  
I stole a quick glance across the hall to where Malfoy usually sat, and was mildly surprised to see that he wasn't there. I was about to point this out when Ron interrupted me.  
  
"I reckon you should go see Dumbledore about this. Remember when Harry was having all those dreams? I reckon Dumbledore ought to know what to do."  
  
Harry nodded.  
  
"Yeah. We should go see him after breakfast. Besides, if this is all true, we could get rid of Malfoy once and for all."  
  
I looked down at my plate and sighed. I knew it wasn't really Malfoy's fault, he had been pressured by his father who had, in turn, been pressured by the unknown person I had seen. It would be hard to prove this, however, because I still had no idea who that other person was.   
  
As much as I hated Malfoy, and would love to see him out of Hogwarts for good, I had a nagging feeling that he might get a greater punishment for this than just expulsion. This was serious.  
  
"Maybe we should wait a bit before going to Dumbledore, guys. I mean, maybe these are just weird dreams after all."  
  
Ron gave me a horrified look.  
  
"Are you mad, woman? Just dreams? They've been keeping you up at night and-" he gestured towards my untouched food "-killing your appetite and..."  
  
"Really, Hermione," Harry interrupted. "I think this is serious stuff. Dumbledore ought to be able to help. Besides, if your dreams are real he could be in danger."  
  
I stood up abruptly.   
  
"Listen, Harry, Ron, I'll think about it. I have some things to do ... I'll catch up with you later."  
  
With that, I hurriedly picked up my coat and left.  
  
---  
  
As soon as I made my decision, I decided to act on it before I changed my mind. I snuck into Harry's room and borrowed his invisibility cloak, donned it, and climbed out of the portrait hole.   
  
I peeked into the Great Hall once more, just to make sure Malfoy wasn't there, and then began to make my way down to the Slytherin dungeons.   
  
I had to double back a few times, because I didn't really know where I was going, and ended up following a small bunch of unsuspecting Slytherin 2nd years.  
  
One of them uttered the password.  
  
"Loch Ness."  
  
I decided to remember it for future use, as the large door slid aside to reveal the Slytherin common room.  
  
Decked entirely in green and silver, it was a fair bit darker and more foreboding than the Gryffindor common room. I shivered slightly, and made my way up the stairs to what I hoped was the 6th year boys dormitory.  
  
I approached the door, and attempted to change my voice slightly with a spell I had seen in a library book. I could sense the change even before I had finished uttering the spell.  
  
Satisfied, I knocked lightly on the door and said;  
  
"Open up, Malfoy."  
  
I heard a grumpy sort of noise from within, and then the door swung open. Malfoy looked around at the seemingly empty air and scowled. He was about to close the door again when I slipped through the gap and into the dormitory. I was pleased to see that it was otherwise unoccupied.   
  
"Malfoy?"  
  
The boy jumped about a foot in the air, and began staring frantically around the room. He was about to draw his wand when I plucked up the last of my courage and slipped off the invisibility cloak.  
  
"Granger? What the hell are you doing here? Get the hell out you filthy..."  
  
"Malfoy, I know about the plot against Dumbledore."  
  
I watched with some satisfaction as Malfoy promptly shut up and lowered his wand. He eyed me suspiciously.  
  
"How did..."  
  
I interrupted him.  
  
"I've been having some really whacked-out dreams, Malfoy, and it wasn't until I saw you crying up at the owlery this morning that..."  
  
"I was not crying!"  
  
"...that I began to think that maybe my dreams were real. I should be going straight to Dumbledore, you know."  
  
Malfoy ran a hand frustratedly through his hair. It was usually perfectly slicked back, and it was a mild shock to see it like that, messy and sticking up at all ends.   
  
"So then why are you here, mudb-"  
  
"I'm here" I interrupted; "because I know that you are going to be in alot of trouble if anybody finds out about this. I'm talking, Azkaban trouble. I know what I saw, Malfoy. I saw your father getting bullied into this by another death-eater! If people know its not really his fault then-"  
  
I was interrupted by Malfoy slamming his fist against his bed-post. I started. I was used to him being in control, or at least pretending to be. This new Malfoy was starting to scare me in a whole other way.  
  
"Listen, Granger. I don't know why you feel it's your little responsibility to come running in here and saying you can help me. You can't. Even if people knew why I've been assigned this task, my father would still be prosecuted, only instead of by the ministry he will have You-Know-Who, and every single one of his supporters on his hands!"  
  
Slowly, I digested this. I had to admit, Malfoy had a point.  
  
"But ... The ministry can protect you!"  
  
"The same way they protected your precious Potter's parents?"  
  
This startled me. The full hopelessness of the situation began to settle on me. I sat heavily down on the nearest four-poster bed.   
  
After a moment, I looked back up at Malfoy.  
  
"So you're just going to do this. You're just going to condemn the whole of Hogwarts to death because you don't trust the ministry."  
  
Malfoy leaned his head against the bed-post and closed his eyes.  
  
"Yes. I'm just going to do this." He opened one gray eye and looked at me. "Unless you can think of a better idea." 


	4. Chapter Four

Authors Note: Oops. It has come to my attention that, apparently, guys can't get into the girl's dormitories, because the stairs won't let them. Hah. Whoops XD I didn't realise that...so yes, lets just forget that small detail, shall we? ;)  
  
Also, I have begun to realise that Malfoy is a difficult character to write, so sincere apologies if he seems a bit demented and out of character =P  
  
---  
  
Three hours of library-time later, I still had no idea what to do about the situation. I was beginning to admit that, maybe it was as hopeless as Malfoy had made it sound.  
  
I sat back from my book and started staring into space.  
  
Why was I so intent on helping him? He called me a mudblood, insulted my family and friends on an almost daily basis and yet ... he had seemed so helpless today. Admittedly, he had still been insulting me and being rude throughout our conversation, and I still had every reason to hate his guts except, well, even if I did hate him, I knew he didn't deserve to be punished so severely for this. Whatever else was his fault, this wasn't.  
  
"Hermione?"  
  
I was instantly pulled out of my thoughts, and found myself sitting opposite Harry.  
  
"Oh. Hey, Harry."  
  
He squinted at me.  
  
"I know I've been saying this a lot lately but ... are you alright? I've been sitting here for five minutes and you only just noticed me. Is this about those dreams?"  
  
I sighed. I knew now that I shouldn't have told Harry and Ron about the dreams, it would only create more complications.  
  
"No, it's not the dreams. You know, I've been thinking about them and, well, I think I was overreacting, Harry" I chucked slightly, trying to inject some humor into the conversation. "I don't think Malfoy's smart enough to pull something like that off, anyway."  
  
Harry smiled slightly, and continued to eye me quizzically.  
  
"Well ... if its not the dreams, then, what is it? And don't say nothing, I can tell somethings up with you. I don't think I've ever seen you in the library not actually studying or anything."  
  
I closed the book in front of me and stood up.  
  
"I think it might be because I haven't eaten much today ... what time is lunch?"  
  
"That's why I came to get you, its almost over and we hadn't seen you yet."  
  
---  
  
Despite what I had told Harry, I still had no appetite. I felt like the fate of my enemy was in my hands.   
  
My mixed feelings about helping Malfoy didn't help the cause much, either, and this was accentuated when he and his cronies stopped at the Gryffindor table on their way out of the Great Hall, just as Ron was standing up.  
  
I noticed a second too late that Malfoy stuck his foot out, sending Ron crashing into the stone floor of the hall. I looked up to glare at Malfoy, but as his gray eyes fastened to mine, I saw what could only be described as desperation.   
  
Through his eyes I could see that he was very, very scared.  
  
I shivered under his gaze, excused myself, and fled from the hall.  
  
---  
  
I only got about halfway to Gryffindor tower when he caught up with me.  
  
"Granger..."  
  
I rounded on him.  
  
"Just what the hell was that? I'm trying to help you here, and you..."  
  
Malfoy's hands snaked out from under his robes and clasped my shoulders. He shook me, roughly.  
  
"Granger! For God's sake. What the hell are people going to think if I start being sickly-sweet to you people all of a sudden?"  
  
I pulled out of his grasp, and walked backwards until my back hit the stone wall. My exhaustion seemed to take me over all at once, and I slid down the wall and sat on the floor.  
  
I buried my face in my hands.  
  
"I don't know what to do, Malfoy. You're right. It's hopeless. I shouldn't have said anything."  
  
I looked up at him, slowly. He was leaning against the opposite wall, running his fingers angrily through his hair again. He saw that I was looking at him and smirked slightly.  
  
"Since when was a Malfoy ever wrong?"  
  
I noticed absently that his face was becoming fuzzy. I was starting to feel dizzy. I felt like the ground was spinning beneath me.  
  
And then all faded to blackness. 


	5. Chapter Five

Authors Note: Yeah, okay, this is a really REALLY short chapter. The last one was actually pretty short too but anyway ... I'll probably be updating alot so I think that makes up for it =P   
  
---  
  
I knew immediately where I was.  
  
The scene was different this time, although I was still staring through the small crack in the door.   
  
This time I could see Draco Malfoy talking to his mother.  
  
"It's the only way mother!"  
  
"No! I won't let you do it!"  
  
I stared, dumbfounded. Mrs. Malfoy was sitting on the floor of a dark room, sobbing before her son, who was sitting on a windowsill.  
  
"They can't expect me to do anything if I'm dead! Besides, my death would not be any body's fault but my own! They can't punish you and Father for that."  
  
I winced upon hearing Draco's voice crack horribly, and felt a chill as I realised just what he was doing sitting on the windowsill.  
  
"Draco! There will be other ways ... I promise you we will find another way out of this! You're too young-" His mother's voice was shaking uncontrollably now "-you're much too young..."  
  
---  
  
I woke up with a start, to find my face only inches from Malfoy's. By reflex, I grabbed his shoulders to steady myself. The words of his mother were still playing in my mind when finally he spoke softly.  
  
"Was that another dream, Granger?"  
  
I blinked, noticing suddenly that my eyes were filling with tears. I choked out the words that were still repeating themselves in my head.  
  
"Y-You're much t-t-too young."  
  
Malfoy's gray eyes widened considerably, and he pulled away from me, forcing me to let go of his shoulders. I felt the tears slide slowly down my face, and sniffled a little. I watched as Malfoy scooted back over to the other wall and leaned back, closing his eyes.   
  
Finally, he cleared his throat and spoke.  
  
"Well, there you have it. The solution we both know is there. It really is that easy."  
  
I opened my mouth to speak, but he interrupted me.  
  
"Don't act like you never thought of it, Granger. If I die for whatever reason they can't blame my Father. Hell, if I did it right I could make it look like Dumbledore's fault. Then everybody would be happy."  
  
He opened his eyes and looked at me, as if daring me to deny that he was right. I tried to pull myself together.   
  
"M-Malfoy ... your mother is right. There has to be another way."  
  
Malfoy shook his head, causing his light hair to fall into his eyes. He blew on it, sending it fluttering around his forehead.  
  
"There isn't. If there was, don't you think I would have thought of it already? And besides" he gave a wry smile "I'm sure there has been many a time you wanted me dead anyway, Granger."  
  
I shook my head.  
  
"Expelled? Yes. Turned permanently into a ferret? Absolutely. But believe it or not, sometimes hating somebody is not enough reason to want them dead." I paused. "Or maybe that's just, you know, a 'mudblood' thing," I suggested sarcastically, raising one eyebrow.  
  
Malfoy smirked, and matched my raised eyebrow.   
  
"Sure. Maybe it is. But either way, I have two weeks until I'm supposed to report to my father for the first time. That was what he said in the owl he sent this morning."  
  
My face fell. Two weeks? That was hardly enough time to conjure a plan to save the school.   
  
Malfoy stood up, and offered a hand to help me. I took it, greatfully, and he pulled me up. My legs were still shaky from fatigue and fear, so I leaned against the wall for support.  
  
I decided to try and be encouraging.  
  
"Two weeks huh? Well, I'm sure we can come up with at least something temporary in that time."  
  
Malfoy just looked at me like I was mad.  
  
"See, that's what has always annoyed me about you. Sometime, Granger, you just have to admit defeat."  
  
My anger sparked, and I glared at him.  
  
"Thats a bit rich coming from a Malfoy."  
  
I could see that he was about to come back with a scathing response, but thought better of it. He met my eye and quirked one eyebrow.  
  
"Fine. If you come up with something, let me know."  
  
And with that, he stalked off. 


	6. Chapter Six

As I entered the Gryffindor common room, I saw Ginny Weasley sitting alone in front of the fireplace, staring absently into the flames. She looked confused about something, and I was trying to make up my mind whether it was my business to ask or not when she tore her eyes from the fire and looked at me.  
  
I smiled at her, but she didn't return it.  
  
"I saw you and Draco Malfoy in the hall just now. After what he did to Ron in the Great Hall at lunch and all!"  
  
I felt my smile fade. I exhaled slowly and took a seat next to Ginny.   
  
"There are some things, Ginny, that you can't control and Malfoy and I were just talking..."  
  
"Talking?" Ginny interrupted. "You weren't just talking! I saw you!"  
  
This left me dumbfounded. I stared at her.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
She rolled her eyes theatrically and glared at me.  
  
"Well, let's just say you were lying on the floor, he was practically on top of you, and I could see your hands were on his shoulders! What do you mean 'talking'? That didn't look much like talking to me!"  
  
I cringed as she stormed past me and up into her room. As the door slammed, I dropped my head into my hands and took a few deep breaths to calm myself. Then I stood up and followed her to the dormitory door.  
  
"Ginny? Please open the door Ginny I can explain..."  
  
"No you can't! He's a filthy, insulting, disgusting Slytherin, Hermione! I thought you were Harry and Ron's best friend!"  
  
I thumped hopelessly on the door and shouted;  
  
"I am! You're not letting me explain all of this!"  
  
"Not letting you explain all of what?"  
  
I spun around to see Harry and Ron standing next to the portrait hole. My brain started spinning, How long had they been standing there?  
  
"Hermione? What is going on?" Ron tapped his foot impatiently.  
  
"Nothing, Ron."  
  
Ginny opened the door to our dorm and stared at me. Her eyes were dangerous, but she said nothing. She just glared at me and slammed the door again. I heaved a sigh of relief, she hadn't told Harry and Ron what she had seen. Harry blinked at the closed door.  
  
"Whats up with her?" He asked. I shook my head.  
  
"I'll tell you later."  
  
---  
  
After my close shave in the common room, I decided it was best if I didn't talk to Malfoy anymore. Even though now I had no doubt in my mind that I was going to try to help him, that didn't mean I was going to forgive him for all the insults from over the years.   
  
What Ginny had said had rattled me. I hadn't even really noticed my close proximity to Malfoy when I had woken up from my dream, but now I was wondering stupidly if he had noticed it, too. Probably not.   
  
I decided that I was actually going to try and eat a proper meal at dinner that night, and was in the process of shoveling food in my mouth when Ron interrupted me.  
  
"Wow. Somebody got their appetite back."  
  
I gave him a sarcastic look. To tell the truth, the food was making me sick. But I had a feeling another dream was in store that night, and I was going to need all the energy I could get.  
  
Ron smiled at me. His expression changed suddenly as his eyes swept the table. He frowned.  
  
"Where's Ginny?"   
  
I stopped eating, leaving my fork hovering inches from my open mouth. I glanced around the table and confirmed that Ginny really wasn't there. Dropping my fork suddenly, I excused myself and left to the common room.   
  
---  
  
I knocked lightly on the door to the girls' dorm.  
  
"Ginny? Are you in there? It's Hermione."  
  
"Are you alone?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
I heard footsteps inside the room, and the door opened slightly, just enough for me to slip inside.   
  
"Well?" Ginny had her hands on her hips. "You said you wanted to explain yourself. Go ahead."  
  
I sighed heavily and sat down on my bed.  
  
"I've been having dreams, Ginny. Really scary ones, about You-Know-Who. The rising. All of that. And Malfoy ... well, he's in them. Some really scary stuff is happening to him, and I find it hard to just, well, just sit and watch stuff happen."  
  
"So? You've been having some nightmares. What's that got to do with ..."  
  
"They're not just nightmares! I'm dreaming things that have actually happened to this guy."  
  
A silence spread between us. Ginny was smart enough not to question how I knew my dreams were real. This sort of thing had happened at Hogwarts before.  
  
"So you have nightmares about Malfoy's life. Then you start snogging him in the hallways?"  
  
I felt my jaw drop.  
  
"Ginny! I was not snogging him!"  
  
"Then what were you doing?"  
  
"I had one of my dreams while I was talking to him. I fell on the floor out cold, and he ran over to see if I was okay! That's all!"  
  
I looked at my friend, pleadingly. I could tell she didn't fully believe me.  
  
"Since when did Malfoy care if you were okay?"  
  
I opened my mouth, and then closed it again. Truthfully, I didn't know. He had told me himself that the cause was hopeless, so why did he care?  
  
"I don't know." 


	7. Chapter Seven

That night I had another dream, but this one was very different from the others.  
  
Although I was also observing through a crack in the door, as seemed to be my dream's trademark, this time I was seeing the present, rather than the past.  
  
I was seeing Draco Malfoy, pacing the Slytherin boys dormitory.  
  
His pacing was quickening, and I could tell that he was extremely agitated. His hands were balled into fists and his sides, and his usually gelled perfect hair was flying everywhere.  
  
He stopped suddenly, seeming to make a decision. He knelt on the floor and produced a roll of parchment and a quill from under his bed. Carrying the items, he walked silently to the door and left the room, presumably to the Slytherin common room.  
  
The scene shifted suddenly, making my stomach lurch. I wished I hadn't eaten so much for dinner.  
  
Now I was peering into the owlery. Malfoy was attaching a letter to the leg of an owl, and sending it off. He watched the owl until it was just a speck in the distance.  
  
---  
  
My eyes snapped open suddenly, and faint daylight flooded into them.   
  
It was Monday morning, and I felt like I hadn't slept in years.  
  
---  
  
At breakfast, I was mildly surprised to see an owl land in front of me with a note attached to its leg. I was in the process of wondering where the note had come from when I suddenly recognized the owl.  
  
It was the note Malfoy had sent last night.  
  
I slowly pulled it off, patted the owl, and placed the letter in the pocket of my robe.  
  
"Who's the note from?"  
  
My head snapped up suddenly, and I saw Ron looking at me with interest. I opened my mouth to reply when he interrupted;  
  
"You seemed in a hurry to hide it, Hermione" he smiled mischievously. "Don't tell me you have a secret admirer?"   
  
I felt my cheeks heat up, and hoped with a passion that Malfoy wasn't watching me.   
  
"No, of course not. It's just a note from my parents."  
  
As soon as I said that, I remembered the note that I had written to my parents the morning before. I had never posted it. A pang of guilt swept over me.  
  
Ron smiled. "Parents finally learning the ways of the owl post, eh?"  
  
I swallowed. "Yep."  
  
Harry sat down heavily next to me, groaning.  
  
"Can you believe it? Double potions, first up. The only potion I'm gonna need is one to keep me awake."  
  
I smiled.   
  
"Speaking of potions, I think I left my essay in my room. I'll just go up and get it now ... I'll meet you guys in class."  
  
I picked up my bag, which had my essay in it, and left the hall. I knew I hadn't really forgotten the essay, but I was anxious to read the letter from Malfoy and knew I wouldn't get another time to read it.  
  
Granger,  
  
Start of lunch. The owlery.  
  
Don't be late.  
  
- D.M  
  
I blinked at the note. He had seemed so frustrated when he wrote it the night before, I thought it would have a little more content than that. Still, it was probably better to talk things over in person.  
  
---  
  
"What did you get for your essay, Hermione?"  
  
I was seething so much I could barely answer.  
  
"I don't want to talk about it, Ron."  
  
"Whoa. That bad?"  
  
I rounded on him.  
  
"Six out of ten is not BAD Ronald Weasley!"  
  
He smiled at me and showed me his essay.  
  
"Sure, six out of ten isn't bad. But two out of ten is."  
  
My jaw dropped. I had helped him with that essay, I knew it was worth at least a five. I began to get angry all over again.  
  
"That's ridiculous! That Professor is just..."  
  
I was about to insert some form of expletive to the end of my statement when I heard a soft voice beside me.  
  
"Right behind you. Really, Granger, I thought you were smarter than that."  
  
I spun around and saw that Snape was, indeed, only a few paces behind me. He didn't say anything, but I was sure he had heard everything I'd said. I started to turn slightly red.   
  
Malfoy smirked at my discomfort.  
  
"Aren't you even going to thank me? I saved your skin, mudblood."  
  
I felt my anger creeping up on me, it was all I could do not to turn around and slug him in the face.   
  
Much to my surprise, however, it was Ron who exploded first.  
  
"Would you stop it with the damned mudblood thing! You say it so much it's beginning to lose all meaning anyway! Why can't you just lay off?"  
  
Malfoy looked behind him, to make sure Snape was gone. He held his wand out and, I was sure, just about to attempt a hex on Ron, when I pulled my wand out of my pocket and subtly poked him in the side with it.   
  
He shifted his attention to me, and rolled his eyes and lowered his wand slightly.  
  
"If it was beginning to lose all meaning, Weasle, I highly doubt that you would be turning so hilariously red over it."  
  
I frowned at Malfoy, who whispered out of the corner of his mouth;  
  
"You owe me big time, Granger." 


	8. Chapter Eight

I stood uncomfortably in the owlery, all alone.  
  
I'd been waiting for Malfoy for about fifteen minutes, and the bloody pig hadn't shown up yet.  
  
I glared at the letter he had written. "Don't be late." I seethed. It was a bad morning for me and Slytherins.  
  
After another five minutes of waiting I gave up, and made to leave.   
  
"I said you owe me, Granger. That means you're supposed to wait for me."  
  
I glared at him  
  
"I've already been waiting twenty minutes, Malfoy."  
  
He smirked, then walked over to the owlery window. No longer facing me, he asked;  
  
"Did you have another dream last night?"  
  
I swallowed. I'd been afraid of that.  
  
"Sort of."  
  
He half-turned around to look at me, and quirked an eyebrow.  
  
"Sort of? Care to elaborate?"  
  
"Well ... I did have a dream" I paused, awkwardly. "And it did have you in it. But it wasn't really the same as the others."  
  
Malfoy's usual smirk began to return to his face, and he took a step towards me.  
  
"So" he said, quietly. "You're saying you had a dream-" I nodded "-with me in it-" I nodded again "-but it wasn't the same sort of dream as the others?"  
  
"Yes. That's it."  
  
His smirk widened as he took another step towards me. I was beginning to feel slightly uncomfortable.  
  
"Well, then, what sort of dream was it?"  
  
All at once I understood what he was talking about. I started to turn scarlet as I backed slowly away from him.  
  
"I can assure you, Malfoy, it wasn't that kind of a dream!"  
  
The tell-tale smirk on his face suddenly changed. It looked unfamiliar somehow. I realised with a shock that he was actually smiling.  
  
"Oh. I'm sure it wasn't."  
  
I gave him a sarcastic look.  
  
"No. Usually I have dreams of things in the past. The dream I had last night was, well, the present. You were pacing around in the Slytherin common room, and then you were in the owlery and you sent me the letter."  
  
The smile had completely vanished from Malfoy's face, and his eyes narrowed slightly. He said nothing for a while, until finally;  
  
"Why do you think you are having these dreams, Granger?"  
  
I stared at him.  
  
"I don't know."  
  
He looked frustratedly out the window and spoke with his back to me.  
  
"I mean, they say everything happens for a reason, don't they? So why are you having dreams about my life? It makes no sense."  
  
I thought for a moment before answering.  
  
"Maybe somebody up there is sick of us fighting all the time."  
  
He turned around suddenly and walked towards me. He stopped about one foot away and looked down at me, with eyebrows raised.  
  
"Is this going to stop the fighting then, mudblood?"  
  
I bristled.  
  
"It sure as hell isn't going to work if you keep saying that damned word!"  
  
"So the weasel was wrong, it's not losing its touch."  
  
"No, it's not. And I would appreciate, seeings how I'm trying to help you, if you would..."  
  
"How many times do I have to tell you, Granger! I cannot be helped!"  
  
"You don't really believe that! If you did, you would have jumped out that window last night!"   
  
I pointed angrily to the window he had recently vacated. He glared down at me, obviously fuming.   
  
I turned on my heel, and made to leave the owlery. Malfoy snaked a hand around my wrist and stopped me.  
  
"Let go of me!"  
  
He increased pressure on my wrist with his thumb and forefinger. I turned around to glare at him, and instead found myself holding eye-contact, unable to say anything.  
  
His face softened and his light hair began to fall in his face as he leaned towards me, slowly. I closed my eyes and whispered.  
  
"Please let go. You're hurting me."  
  
He let go and softly traced a single finger along the length of my arm. I shivered, and opened my eyes.   
  
"I'd better go down to the hall" I said, quietly. "Harry and Ron are going to wonder where I am."  
  
Malfoy started, as if only just remembering I was there. He nodded distractedly and turned back to the window.  
  
I shook my head, to clear it, and started down to the hall. 


	9. Chapter Nine

Nearly one week later, I was just about to tear my own hair out with frustration.   
  
I had spent practically my every waking moment in the library, even though deep down I knew my answers could not be found in books. I highly doubted that any situation like this had been documented in the first war, but busied myself searching books for first-hand accounts none the less.   
  
Since that day in the owlery, Malfoy and I had not spoken. I still had visions every night, although they were beginning to lose their meaning.   
  
Instead of scenes, I was receiving fragments of events. The dream I had the night before had shown all manner of strange things, from Malfoy being attacked by a Hippogriff in our third year, to a scrambled image of Lucius Malfoy scolding a two-year old Draco for breaking a vase.   
  
I didn't understand. Before, all my of dreams seemed to have had some sort of relevance, some sort of clue. Now they just seemed to be random images from Malfoy's past. Admittedly, they were all painful memories of his, but they still didn't help me at all.  
  
"Someday, Granger, you are going to have to accept that you cannot find the answer to everything in books."  
  
I looked up, startled. I hadn't noticed Malfoy sit down across from me. I sighed.  
  
"Well, it's worth looking. Besides, my dreams don't seem to be giving any clues."  
  
Malfoy's eyes narrowed.  
  
"You're still having those dreams?"  
  
I nodded. "Yes. I mean, they don't really have anything to do with the situation anymore. They're just memories at random."  
  
"Memories?" He sounded surprised, worried, even. "What kind of memories?"  
  
I looked at him, meeting his eyes. He looked fairly uncomfortable at the prospect of a practical stranger dreaming his memories, and it was tempting to smile at the awkward look on his face. I restrained myself.  
  
"Nothing overly important." I smiled, just a little. "Nothing embarrassing, I mean."  
  
He gave an audible sigh of relief, leaving me to ponder for a few moments what kind of embarrassing memories he didn't want me to see.   
  
"So? What kind of memories are they, then?"  
  
"Painful memories. Last night I saw you being attacked by Buckbeak, and I saw your dad telling you off for breaking something when you were a little kid."  
  
I saw him redden slightly. It hadn't really occurred to me that young childhood memories may be considered embarrassing, but supposed he must have thought they were.  
  
"Right" he said, curtly. "Found anything that's actually helpful?"  
  
He gestured to the pile of books on the desk, and I shook my head.  
  
"Not really. The only thing I can think of is somehow convincing the Death-Eater's that it's you that's ruining the plan, and that it has nothing to do with your father."  
  
"No. If I do something wrong, it's my father's fault."  
  
"So if you killed yourself, wouldn't that be his fault, too?"  
  
He fell silent for a moment, thinking.  
  
"I don't have to make it look like I killed myself. I can make it look like an accident."  
  
I closed my eyes and started to massage my temples. After a moment I felt Malfoy's eyes on me, and met his gaze.  
  
"This is horrible" I said, simply.  
  
Malfoy smirked, and shrugged.  
  
"I never said you had to get involved."  
  
"I'm involved whether I want to be or not. I must have had those dreams for a reason."  
  
"So there's a reason you're dreaming about me as a baby being scolded by my father, is there?"  
  
I dropped my eyes. He was right. Maybe this had all been a stupid mistake after all. Even if I was supposed to be helping, I knew I wasn't doing a very good job.  
  
"I guess not" I said, quietly, and started packing up the books that were still spread out on the table.   
  
As I was closing one of them, I managed to give myself a small paper cut on my thumb. I sucked in my breath sharply, and looked down at the tiny, bleeding cut.  
  
I was about to wipe the blood away with my handkerchief when Malfoy caught my hand. He was staring, open mouthed, at the cut on my thumb. I raised my eyebrows at him.  
  
"What? Never seen a paper cut before?"  
  
He ignored me, and used his other hand to take hold of my injured thumb. He squeezed it lightly between his thumb and forefinger, causing more blood to ooze out of the tiny cut. I winced, and pulled my hand away from him.  
  
"Malfoy? What..."  
  
"Dirty blood" he said, in a voice barely above a whisper.  
  
I immediately took offense, and was about to give him a piece of my mind when he stood up and walked stiltedly out of the library.  
  
---  
  
"He just walked right out?"  
  
"Yup. As soon as he saw the cut he looked like he was going to have a seizure or something."  
  
It was lunch, and I was recounting my story to Harry and Ron. Omitting the part where I had been researching Malfoy's predicament, I had told them I had been putting a book back on the shelf when I cut myself, and Malfoy saw me.  
  
I felt weird lying so much to my friends, but felt the need to tell them something, to stop myself feeling so disconnected from them.   
  
Harry spoke around his mouthful of steak and kidney pie.  
  
"Maybe he's just afraid of blood. Wouldn't put it passed him, really."  
  
I nodded, although I seriously doubted that was the reason. Even though I was almost positive I had heard Malfoy mention dirty blood, I knew I could have just as easily imagined it. I hadn't mentioned that detail at all to Harry and Ron, though.  
  
Ron grinned.  
  
"Figures, doesn't it? Should have rubbed it in his face, Hermione."  
  
I smiled at him. I was happy to feel included with them again.  
  
---  
  
That night, I had yet another of my dreams.  
  
This time, I could see a very young Draco, maybe four years old, being told by his father about mudbloods.  
  
His gray eyes were wide and innocent, as he took in his fathers' every word.  
  
"So the muggles have dirty blood?"  
  
"Yes, son. Their blood is dark brown, and black. That's why we call them mudbloods."  
  
"Black?"  
  
"Only purebloods have pure, red blood, Draco."  
  
Baby Draco Malfoy seemed fascinated by this new revelation, and I was left with an image of his small face smiling as the scene changed.  
  
Now I saw myself, from Malfoy's point of view, cutting my finger in the library.   
  
Things started to slow down as his eyes fastened in horror on the blood that was oozing slowly out of the small cut.  
  
My blood was clean. 


	10. Chapter Ten

When I woke up, I was breathing heavily.  
  
I stared at the ceiling for a moment, thinking it all over.  
  
Mudblood. Malfoy had called me a mudblood for so many years simply because he thought that muggles had dirty blood. He had been taught that non-pure people had blood that was black and dirty, not red and clean like his own. He had believed that.  
  
I was itching to find Malfoy, to tell him about the dream I'd had. I would need Harry's invisibility cloak to get into Slytherin's common room, but I knew that it was under his bed, in the boys dormitory. No way was I going to sneak into the boys dormitory at some ungodly hour on a Sunday morning, and start rummaging through the junk under Harry's bed.  
  
Glancing at the clock, I saw that it was three thirty in the morning. Great. I had a minimum of about six hours to wait until Harry woke up. Then I would have to wait until he went down to breakfast so I could sneak in and steal the cloak. By that time, I might as well just go and find Malfoy and talk to him, without having to sneak anywhere.  
  
I glared at my clock, as though the whole predicament was its' fault.  
  
Crookshanks began to make his way gamely up my quilt, before coming to rest heavily on my stomach. He purred loudly as I scratched behind his ears.  
  
After about fifteen minutes of petting Crookshanks and staring at my ceiling, I decided to get up and go down to the common room.  
  
I curled up on a lounge in front of the dying fire, a book in hand, and read until dawn, with Crookshanks asleep in my lap.  
  
---  
  
By six o'clock, I decided that the Great Hall should be open for breakfast. I left Crookshanks on the lounge, and made my way down to the hall.  
  
It was almost entirely unoccupied, save for one person, who wasn't eating.   
  
Draco Malfoy was sitting alone at the Slytherin table, staring into space. He didn't have any food on his plate, I noticed, and he looked like he hadn't slept well.   
  
I plucked up my courage and walked over to him.  
  
"Malfoy?"  
  
He looked up quickly, and then looked away again.  
  
"What do you want?"  
  
Slowly, I sat down opposite from him. Slytherin table or not, I didn't feel like I had the energy to stand up to deliver my speech.  
  
"I had another dream last night."  
  
"How fascinating."  
  
He acted as though he hadn't noticed I was sitting there, and he instead stared over my shoulder at the far wall.   
  
"This one was actually kind of relevant" I swallowed. "I, um, I saw your father teaching you about mudbloods."  
  
Malfoy's eyes shot up suddenly, and he looked like he was about to say something when I interrupted.  
  
"He told you muggles had dirty blood. Black blood, even. That's why you called us mudbloods."  
  
I searched his face, looking for even the vaguest sign of emotion. He closed his eyes.  
  
"He was lying, wasn't he?"  
  
I pulled the band-aid off my thumb, roughly, making sure the small cut was re-opened. A small drop of blood began to well up around the cut. I could sense that he had opened his eyes and was watching me.  
  
"Yes. He was lying. He wanted you to hate muggles, Malfoy! He told you everything he could to make you hate them. And ... and it worked."  
  
Malfoy's fist suddenly hit the table with alarming speed. I jumped, startled by the sudden movement. His other hand snaked out and grabbed my wrist. He shook it roughly and raised his voice at me.  
  
"So what does this mean?" He was close to yelling, now. "Is this supposed to mean my blood is only as good as some ... some ... muggle?!"  
  
I angrily yanked my hand away and shouted right back.  
  
"Yes! It means you're no better than anybody else! Malfoy blood or not, you're no better than me or Ron or Harry or anybody!"  
  
We glared at each other for a moment before I swung my legs over the bench and started to stand up.  
  
"Wait ... please don't go."  
  
I turned around. Malfoy's face was contorted with reined-in emotion and his voice sounded strangled. He swallowed, and gestured to my hand.  
  
"Explain?"  
  
---  
  
"So you mean, everybody has the same blood?"  
  
About an hour later I was sitting with Malfoy in the library, quietly explaining to him bout bloodlines.  
  
"Yup. Everybody has the same blood. Its always red and it's always the same. Doesn't matter what family you come from, if you're magical or non-magical. It's always the same."  
  
I had been thinking about explaining blood types to him, but figured it best not to confuse him further. For the first time in the time I had known him, he seemed to be actually interested in me teaching him.  
  
"Always the same. So, for example, you and I? We have the same blood?"  
  
I nodded. "Exactly."  
  
"So ... you're not really a mudblood, then."  
  
"No. I'm not."  
  
"Oh."  
  
Malfoy cleared his throat and tapped absently on the tabletop with two of his fingernails.  
  
"Well, then, I suppose I ... I suppose that means I owe you an apology."  
  
I smiled a little. I could tell from his pained expression that these words were costing him.  
  
"I'm ... I'm sorry, Hermione."  
  
My eyes widened slightly. I hadn't really expected him to apologize anyway, and he had called me by my first name. I was truly shocked. I was tempted to accept his apology, but...  
  
"Well, I suppose I should really forgive you. You didn't know my blood wasn't, you know, made of mud. But you still knew it was insulting and you called me that anyway-"  
  
"Yes, I know. I thought it was insulting in the same way calling you 'bush head' would have been insulting. I didn't know it was an insult in itself."  
  
I bristled at the reference to my hair, but said nothing. Malfoy smirked.  
  
"Oh come on, Granger. Can't you see I'm innocent for once?"  
  
Back to last names, then. I wondered if his calling me Hermione had been merely a slip of the tongue. I sighed.  
  
"Alright. But if you ever call me that again I swear..."  
  
Malfoy started to laugh, softly. It wasn't the malicious laugh he usually used when somebody was in pain or he thought he had cracked a particularly amusing joke. It was a different laugh, one I had never heard before.  
  
"Alright, alright. I won't call you a mudblood ever again. Deal?"  
  
He held out his hand for me to shake. I looked down at it suspiciously, and then took it.  
  
"Deal." 


	11. Chapter Eleven

In the Gryffinidor common room the next day, I was helping Ron with his Transfiguration assignment while Harry was at Quidditch practice.   
  
"So I guess you aren't having those dreams anymore."  
  
I looked up, and tried to suppress my guilty expression. During the first few days of my dreams, I had looked up a spell to cover the dark circles under my eyes. I was getting to be rather good at covering up my tiredness but, nonetheless, I didn't feel comfortable lying all the time to my best friends.  
  
I opened my mouth to try and hurriedly change the subject, when I heard an owl tapping earnestly on the window.   
  
Ron jumped up to open it and let the bird fly in. To my surprise, it came over and settled on the table in front of me, offering it's note.  
  
As I untied the note from the bird's leg, my heart lurched. I recognized the handwriting.   
  
The note was from Malfoy.  
  
My mind was racing. What was I supposed to tell Ron? He was standing right there, I couldn't very well hide the letter from him.  
  
Gingerly, I unraveled the piece of parchment and read it.  
  
Granger,  
  
My father has changed his mind.  
  
He wants the first update in two days.  
  
I have not done anything he has told me to do.   
  
Meet me in the Astronomy Tower in five minutes.  
  
- Draco  
  
Temporarily forgetting about Ron, I stared at the note. Two days. Malfoy's fate was to be sealed in two days, and it was up to me to save him.   
  
And he had signed off, Draco.  
  
I started to shake slightly, and I stood up quickly and turned to Ron.  
  
"I'll be back."  
  
I fled from the common room.  
  
---  
  
When I saw Malfoy sitting in a dark corner, I almost felt my knees give way.  
  
He was curled in on himself, with his knees brought up to his chest and his arms hugging them to him. He, too, was shaking.  
  
He looked like a frightened little boy.  
  
"Draco?"  
  
He looked up, and I could see that his eyes were red and puffy. He tried to stand up, shakily, and I held out my hand to help him up.  
  
"Two days" he said, quietly.   
  
"I know" I whispered.  
  
Malfoy closed his eyes. His forehead crinkled, and I could tell he was trying not to cry. When he opened them again, they were shining with tears. He swallowed.  
  
"Look, Granger, you don't have to do anything. There's nothing you can do, believe me, you're just getting yourself in trouble here."  
  
"But-"  
  
"No buts. I'm serious. If they find out you helped me then they'll be after you, too."  
  
We held eye-contact, and I shook my head.  
  
"My best friend is Harry Potter. I think they're after me, anyway."  
  
He smiled, wryly.  
  
"Well, then, I don't think they would mind sending him whatever is left of you when they're finished."  
  
My eyes widened. I had heard a lot of horrible and desperate things come out of Malfoy's mouth since I first found out about the whole situation, but that was the worst. I didn't know whether to slap him, burst into tears, or throw up.  
  
All I ended up doing was emit a short gasping noise and turn away, towards the balcony of the tower. I walked over and peered over the edge, breathing heavily to calm myself.  
  
I closed my eyes, and heard Malfoy walk over and stand next to me. To my great surprise, he draped one of his arms around my shoulders.  
  
As though this was a signal, I began to cry. I could feel my entire body shuddering, as I tried to keep myself under control.  
  
When I opened my eyes, I could see a single tear was falling slowly down Malfoy's cheek. He looked at me for a moment, and then pulled me slightly closer.  
  
Before either of us knew it, we wrapped our arms around each other and held on, both of us sobbing quietly and shaking.  
  
After about five minutes of standing there, holding each other and crying, we started to calm down. I pulled my head out from where it had rested on his chest, and looked up at him. He sighed and let go of me.  
  
"I told you it was hopeless, from the very beginning."  
  
"I know you did."  
  
"So I won't be mad if you want to just ... walk away."  
  
"I'd be mad at myself. I told you I'd help you, or at least try."  
  
Malfoy took my hand, the one that had been cut the day before.  
  
"You already helped, Hermione."  
  
I looked up at his face, still slightly stained from the tears that had been falling moments before.   
  
We held eye contact for what seemed like an age, and I felt his other hand reach up and tilt my chin upwards.  
  
He bent down, and before I knew what was happening he laid his lips lightly on mine.  
  
I curled my hand around his neck, and pulled him down closer to me. I felt his hand leave my chin and make its way around my waist, pulling me closer.   
  
The kiss seemed to last hours, until we finally broke apart.  
  
He smiled down at me. Not smirked, but smiled. He kissed me again, lightly, on the lips, and walked away.   
  
I watched his robes billow out around him as he rounded the corner and disappeared. 


	12. Chapter Twelve

I would like to say I spent the walk back to the common room trying to think of an ingenious reason to tell Ron why I had left in such a hurry. I really would. But I didn't even think twice about Ron, or what he would have thought about my rapid departure.   
  
Malfoy kissed me.  
  
My insides felt like mush. Very churned up mush. One part of me felt like it was flying, Malfoy had kissed me! But the other half was still in a numb sort of shock. Not only had he kissed me, but there was every possibility that he, and his father, would be dead in two days. I didn't even realise that I had reached the common room until Ron started waving a hand in my face.  
  
"Hermione? Earth to Hermione?"  
  
I blinked out of my stupor, and looked at him for a moment.  
  
"You left in kind of a hurry ... are you okay?"  
  
"Oh, yeah. I'm fine. I just, um, I got an owl from Flitwick about my charms assignment, I had to go talk to him."  
  
Guilt spasmed through me. I was surprised at how easy it was to lie to Ron. Surprised, and worried. He seemed to accept my excuse easily enough, and started to make his way back to the table we had been working at. I swallowed.  
  
"Ron? I ... I think I need to lie down for a while. I'm feeling kind of dizzy."  
  
"Oh" he looked at me oddly. "Right. Okay. Harry should be back soon ... should I come and get you when he gets back?"  
  
I nodded, slowly. I could feel the strain on my brain as I tried to function normally.  
  
Suddenly, a familiar darkness began to creep over me. I could feel my knees buckling beneath me, and barely had time to put my hands out before I hit the ground.  
  
---  
  
I certainly knew where I was when I opened my eyes again, and quickly I pressed my eye to the crack in the doorway in front of me.  
  
"Has your son done what you asked of him?"  
  
I gasped. It was the man who had been speaking to Lucius in my first dream. I could see his face, and it was heavily scarred, even missing one of his eyes. His other eye was a very pale brown, and appeared very unearthly and creepy.  
  
Lucius swallowed.  
  
"He hasn't sent word yet, but then, I'm not expecting his owl until tomorrow night at the least."  
  
"You do realise, Lucius, that failure to comply will cost your son's life."  
  
"He will comply."  
  
The steely determination with which Malfoy's father said this sent a cold finger of panic down my spine. He was absolutely positive that Draco had performed the task.  
  
"Are you so sure? We have heard nothing from the Ministry about disturbances at Hogwarts. Nothing at all."  
  
"Well, I'm sure that Dumbledore would be very eager to cover such things up."  
  
"I'm sure he would."  
  
I heard the tone of disbelief in the scarred stranger's voice, and after a moment it became clear that Lucius had, too.  
  
"Wilder, my son will do anything our Lord asks of him. It is in his blood."  
  
"And if he does not?"  
  
There was a pause.  
  
"If he does not, then he is not worthy of his name..."  
  
My eyes widened.  
  
"...And his death will be at his own hands."  
  
---  
  
"Hermione? Hermione?!"  
  
My eyes shot open, and I found myself looking up at half of Gryffindor house, all of them staring down at me in worry.  
  
Ignoring the helping hands that were held out to me, I stood up and started towards the portrait hole. I needed to talk to Draco.  
  
---  
  
I stomped my way right up to the Slytherin dungeons, and shouted the password.  
  
"Loch Ness!"  
  
The dungeon door stayed firmly closed.   
  
I stared at it in horror. They had changed the password!  
  
"Loch Ness!" I yelled at the door.  
  
Nothing.   
  
In frustration, I kicked the dungeon door as hard as I could, but it still didn't open.  
  
I was about to attempt to charm the door open, when I heard a familiar voice behind me.  
  
"Just couldn't keep away, could you?"  
  
I wheeled around, and was greeted with Malfoy's smirk. To my annoyance, Crabbe and Goyle were in tow. Getting them away from their idol was going to be difficult.  
  
"I need to-"  
  
"Get away from our common room, mudblood, you don't deserve to be here."  
  
My eyes widened. He had promised he would never call me that again. Ever.  
  
"Excuse me?" My voice came out high and sort of squeaky, causing Crabbe and Goyle to start laughing.  
  
Malfoy's smirk did not falter, even though I knew he was probably wondering why I was down there. He knew I would never come to his common room unless something was seriously wrong.   
  
"You heard me, Granger. You don't deserve to be down here."  
  
I glared at him, and took out my wand. I noticed with amusement that Crabbe and Goyle took a step back, although Malfoy didn't move a muscle.   
  
"Petrificus Totalus" I said, quietly, pointing my wand at Crabbe.   
  
I watched as his entire body seized up and he fell, stiff as a board, onto the stone floor. I was about to do the same to Goyle, when he launched himself at me, fists first.   
  
I had barely enough time to duck out of the way before I heard Malfoy yelling the same spell I had just used. Goyle fell next to his fellow, and they both lay paralyzed on the ground.   
  
"Sorry, old chum" he said, and smirked down at his cronies' unblinking eyes.  
  
Malfoy's eyes came up and met mine, and I felt a small chill down my spine. Mentally, I shut it out, and opened my mouth to speak but he shushed me. He grabbed my arm and started to pull me away.  
  
"Not here. Somebody might hear you."  
  
He pulled me around the corner to a small alcove along the corridor.  
  
"Here. Now, what is it?"  
  
I pulled my arm away from him and glared.  
  
"You told me you'd never call me that again!"  
  
He looked genuinely confused for a moment, then rolled his eyes at me.  
  
"Look, Granger, it was a slip of the tongue, alright? Besides, Crabbe and Goyle would think something was up if I didn't call you that."  
  
I snorted.   
  
"I didn't know Crabbe and Goyle could think."  
  
I felt another small chill as Malfoy smiled at me.  
  
"Well, that's true. But, better safe than sorry. Anyway, what's wrong? Why did you come all the way down here?"  
  
I looked up at him and sighed heavily.  
  
"Well, I had another dream."  
  
He frowned.  
  
"What? You mean, you were asleep between when I saw you last and ..."  
  
"No! I meant like the one I had the other day in the hallway. I was talking to Ron and I just collapsed. I don't know how long I was out for."  
  
He reached out and held onto my shoulders, peering down at my face.  
  
"Are you okay?"  
  
I involuntarily took a small step backward, and he let go of my shoulders. I nodded.  
  
"I'm fine. You're not."  
  
He looked down at himself, as if looking for a wound, and I rolled my eyes.  
  
"You know what I mean. I was watching your dad talking to somebody he called Wilder and-"  
  
"Wilder?" Malfoy interrupted me. "I know that name ..."  
  
"I suppose you would. It seems like your father works for him or something."  
  
Malfoy frowned, obviously trying to remember a face to match the name.  
  
"Lots of scars. Missing an eye. Charming fellow, I'm sure."  
  
I watched as realization crossed his face.  
  
"Oh, him. Right. Keep going."  
  
I wondered for the millionth how much Malfoy knew about his father's business, but pushed the thought aside and continued on with my story.  
  
"Right. Well, Wilder told Lucius that if you didn't send the owl with your progress then-" I swallowed "-then he was going to kill you."  
  
Malfoy blinked once, but no emotion showed on his face. I continued.  
  
"And, well, Lucius seemed pretty sure you were going to what he said, so he said that wouldn't be necessary."  
  
My mouth was going dry. I was approaching the hard point in the recollection. I avoided eye-contact.  
  
"So Wilder said that there hadn't been any news of things going on at Hogwarts, he obviously suspects you haven't been doing anything. But your father said that Dumbledore was probably just trying to cover it up."  
  
"So he ... he really thinks I'm doing the job?"  
  
I looked back up at him, to see that his mask of control was beginning to slip. He had obviously run his hand through his hair, because it was sticking up in all sorts of ways, making him look about eight years old. I sighed.  
  
"Well, I guess he does. Wilder asked what Lucius would do if you hadn't done it and he said ..." My voice caught. I swallowed and started again.  
  
"He said that if you hadn't done it then you ... deserved what you got. Draco, he would let them kill you." 


	13. Chapter Thirteen

My words came out very quietly, in a near whisper, and I closed my eyes after saying them. I could hardly imagine what was going through Malfoy's mind. His own father had condemned him to death.  
  
I heard him blow out a breath, as though he had been holding it for some time.  
  
"Well, Granger, that could mean one of two things. Either my father is trying to make himself sound good for Wilder or I really am just some sort of tool against the enemy."  
  
I opened my eyes and looked at him. His voice had sounded surprisingly calm. He looked at the expression on my face and shrugged.  
  
"Well, it's not like I didn't figure that anyway."  
  
I opened my mouth and closed it a couple of times. He smiled at me again.  
  
"Don't let the flies in, Granger, and you know it's rude to stare."  
  
"But ... But I thought he was trying to protect you! He seemed so upset ..."  
  
"The only thing I think he's upset about is losing whatever advantage I might have put him at. Face it, my father only wanted a kid so he could get in You-Know-Who's good books."  
  
I shook my head.  
  
"Well then ... I'm confused. You said you didn't want to back out because it would cause your father to be persecuted. Why do you even care?"  
  
Malfoy pushed his hand through his hair again.  
  
"He's my father, Granger."  
  
"Well, from the sound of it, he doesn't really seem to care that you're his son."  
  
I watched as Draco's cheeks turned slightly red. He looked away from me.  
  
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that, I-"  
  
"No. That's the problem. It's true. He doesn't really care. He tolerates me because of Mother, and because he thinks I could be an advantage some day" he ducked his head, so I couldn't see his face. "Besides, I've always been kind of a disappointment to him anyway."  
  
My eyes widened considerably. Draco Malfoy was admitting that he was a disappointment to his family? A lot had changed in the past few days. Without looking at me, he continued.  
  
"You know, he wanted me to make friends with Potter, too. That was one of the first things he told me to do. Make friends with Potter. Get inside his head. He was a big threat to the rising, even then."  
  
"So why didn't you? Make friends with Harry, I mean. He didn't know anybody at the beginning of first year. You could have-"  
  
"I tried" he gave me a wry smile. "He blew me off. Hated his guts ever since."  
  
I stared at him.   
  
"So ... the only reason you hated us all for so long was because Harry blew you off?"  
  
"No. You bloody Gryffindors annoy the hell out of me."  
  
There was a very long pause. I held his eyes and tried not to glare at him. I tried to keep my face deadpan, but he saw through my mask.  
  
"Well" one corner of his mouth lifted slightly. "Most of the time, anyway."  
  
I realised suddenly that we had gone grossly off-topic. As much as I wanted to discuss our past, I knew that Malfoy's future was much more important.  
  
"Right. So, that's why I came down. Just to tell you about the dream. I thought it was kind of important."  
  
He blinked, as if only just remembering what we had been talking about.  
  
"Oh, I see. Well, I suppose this means you're not going to back off."  
  
"I can't. It's too late now, I can't just leave you to die or something."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
I frowned at him.   
  
"Why not? I can't just leave somebody to die, Malfoy or not."  
  
My frown deepened as I saw a familiar smirk begin to spread across his face.  
  
"So, it wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that I kissed you, would it Granger?"  
  
I could feel the blood rushing up to my cheeks, and looked quickly away from him.  
  
"I would have helped you even if you didn't."  
  
I heard an unfamiliar noise, and looked up to see that Malfoy was actually laughing quietly. I wasn't used to the sound of his friendly laugh, but it made me smile nonetheless. He quirked an eyebrow at me.  
  
"I'm sure you would, Granger. Anyway, I should really get back and take that spell off Crabbe and Goyle before somebody finds them."  
  
I nodded, and made to walk away when he grabbed my arm to stop me.  
  
In a move so quick I never saw it coming, he leaned down and pressed his mouth on mine. I felt his tongue press against my lips, demanding entry, and started to panic. I pulled away quickly and forced a smile at him.  
  
"I'll talk to you later" I whispered, and fled.  
  
---  
  
I didn't know where to go.   
  
I had been in such a hurry to get away from the Gryffindor common room I hadn't thought that I was acting strangely in front of half the house. I would need a good explanation before I could go back there.  
  
By instinct, I headed straight for the library. I needed badly to sit down and collect myself.  
  
Taking a seat at my usual table, I promptly folded my arms on the table and lowered my forehead onto them. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply.  
  
In my head, I made a mental list of things I had to do.  
  
First on the list was thinking of an excuse for my rapid departure from the common room. My Flitwick lie had worked fine on Ron, but I had a feeling that collapsing and then running out of the common room as if it were on fire could not be blamed on school work. Even I wasn't that obsessed with my work.   
  
Second on the list was Malfoy. I knew that I had to try and help him, after promising and all, but that wasn't what I was thinking about. What I wanted to know was, how had he changed so fast? He had been a smirking little ferret just weeks ago, calling me a mudblood and insulting my friends at every opportunity. Now he was freezing his friends to save me, being mostly civil and even kissing me. Sure, I had changed a little, too. But that was just insane.  
  
My daydreams were interrupted by a concerned looking Ron.  
  
"Hermione? I hoped you'd be here. What's wrong?"  
  
He sat down opposite from me, and looked into my eyes, as if he would be able to see into my thoughts. I blinked and looked away from him.  
  
"Look, it's nothing. Really."  
  
"Nothing? Hermione, you passed out on the floor, then woke up and ran God knows where so nobody could find you. Then I find you in here with your head on the desk and your eyes closed and you tell me you're fine?"  
  
I sighed. I couldn't lie anymore, I knew.  
  
"Okay. Well, you know how I said I was having those dreams?"  
  
He nodded.  
  
"Yeah. You said you weren't having them anymore."  
  
"Um, yeah, I did. But I kind of-"  
  
"Lied?"  
  
I looked back up at Ron's face. He didn't look angry.  
  
"Well, sort of. I mean, I am still having them but ... I figured they weren't that important. They started being kind of random, and I don't seriously think they're real things. I think they're just dreams."  
  
Alright, so I was lying. What was I supposed to tell him? That I told Malfoy about the dreams and was now trying to save his life? That we had kissed, not once, but twice? No. I couldn't tell Ron that. A little white lie never hurt anybody.  
  
I hoped.  
  
"Just dreams? Come on. I thought we said we were gonna go tell Dumbledore."  
  
"I know. I just changed my mind, is all."  
  
Ron's gaze was boring into me. I could tell he didn't believe me, but he was just going to have to. For now. 


	14. Chapter Fourteen

Authors Note: Ack! Sorry it took so long to update! I was on holidays in Adelaide for a few days ... sorry about that! Anyway, this chapter is a little on the short side, but I should be updating more often again now =) Hope you enjoy!  
  
---  
  
Dinner that night was extremely awkward. Ron was being sort of stand-offish to me, which was confusing Harry enormously. I was thankful that Ron hadn't told Harry that he didn't believe me, but the silence was torture.   
  
I stole a glance over to the Slytherin table, and saw Malfoy looking at me. I meant to look away, but I held his gaze for a moment or two. Pansy Parkinson was obviously trying to get his attention, so he looked away for a moment to glare at her.  
  
When he looked back, he winked.  
  
I could feel the blood rising up to my cheeks, and looked away quickly, hoping he wouldn't notice.   
  
Unfortunately, Harry did.  
  
"Hermione? Why are you turning red?"  
  
I pretended to busy myself with my food, and didn't look at him.  
  
"I'm not turning red, Harry. It must be the light. Why would I be turning red?"  
  
"I dunno. That's why I asked."  
  
I felt something press into my foot, and looked under the table to see that Ginny was kicking me from her seat next to me. I frowned at her, and she flicked her eyes between me and Malfoy for a moment before glaring at me.  
  
Great. She had seen the whole thing.  
  
---  
  
"Ginny?"  
  
I walked over to where Ginny was sitting on the edge of her bed. She looked plenty mad.  
  
"Ginny I-"  
  
"You promised nothing was happening with him!"  
  
"Look, Ginny, lots of really weird stuff is happening and I-"  
  
"Weird stuff? Hermione, this is Hogwarts. In case you haven't noticed, there is always weird stuff happening around here. Doesn't give you permission to be flirting with Draco Malfoy from across the dinner table!"  
  
I closed my eyes to hide my visible flinch. Ginny was irritating me, but I knew why. She was absolutely right. I had been in worse fixes with Harry and Ron on an almost yearly basis, and that had never lead to anything other than friendship. What made Malfoy so different?  
  
"I know. I know it doesn't. And I wasn't flirting with him, I seem to recall, he winked at me, not the other way around" I sighed. "This is really messed up, Ginny. I'm sorry. I don't know what I'm doing."  
  
Slowly, I turned around, attempting to hide the fact that I was starting to cry. It had been an extremely long day, and the last thing I felt I could deal with was one of my very few good friends turning on me because of one little wink.  
  
"Don't you try and play the sympathy card with me! You don't think I know what it's like to fall for somebody you shouldn't? I'm trying to help you!"  
  
My anger flared.  
  
"Help me? This is how you want to help me? By going insane at me when I-"  
  
"Alright, alright" her voice had calmed down. She took a deep breath. "Hermione, just think about this. There is no way, no way, that this can end well. No way."  
  
"I know" I whispered.  
  
---  
  
That night, I had a dream.  
  
I was peering through that very same crack in that very same door, only this time I was watching Draco himself. This time, I was not seeing the past. This time, I feared, I was seeing the future.  
  
"It has come to our attention that you have disobeyed your father's order."  
  
I was watching in horror as Draco Malfoy was strapped roughly to a metal chair, facing away from me. The chair was facing the same scarred and ugly man who had been interrogating his Lucius Malfoy in my first dream. Wilder.  
  
My insides squirmed as I watched Draco flinch. He spoke in a low voice, filled with dread and defeat.  
  
"Yes, I did."  
  
"And you knew the full consequences of your actions?"  
  
"I ... I wasn't informed."  
  
For the first time I noticed that Lucius was watching the scene unfold from a dark corner to Wilder's right. His face was deadpan, which scared me almost as much as the interview. His son was being condemned to death, strapped to a metal chair and meanwhile Lucius' face was totally deadpan. I shivered as Wilder spoke again.  
  
"You knew that the task was for the Rising, therefore you must have known the consequences. I know you are not stupid, boy."  
  
Malfoy nodded, a shock of light hair falling in front of his face. His reflex was to push it out of his eyes, but his hands were tied to the chair. He struggled for a brief moment, and then slumped back. He said nothing.  
  
"Well, it seems your son has chosen his path, Lucius. Guards, take him away." 


	15. Chapter Fifteen

When I awoke, I was completely bathed in sweat. I was panting so loudly I was surprised that I hadn't woken anybody else.   
  
A quick scan of the dormitory told me that I was in luck, and that everybody else was still sleeping soundly. Without hesitation, I pushed back my sweaty covers and tiptoed out of the dormitory and down into the common room.   
  
To my surprise, Harry was still awake and sitting by the fire, writing.  
  
"Harry?"  
  
He started, and turned to look at me.  
  
"Oh. Hey, Hermione. What are you up for?"  
  
"I was about to ask you the same question" I looked down at his writing page, and rolled my eyes. "Don't tell me. Snape's two roll essay on bloodstones?"  
  
Harry grinned at me, wryly.  
  
"I don't know why I bother. He's gonna fail me anyway."  
  
"Oh, come off it Harry. He can't do that."  
  
"Like hell he can't."  
  
I rolled my eyes again. On the outside, I was trying to act normally, while my insides were churning. Malfoy could be in grave danger as we spoke.  
  
"What time is it?" I asked.  
  
"It was two, last time I checked."  
  
"Okay." I hesitated. "Um, look, I'm going to ask you kind of a weird favor."  
  
Harry took of his glasses and rubbed his eyes. He still had them closed when he spoke.  
  
"Okay, shoot."  
  
I swallowed, trying to ignore how dry my mouth had gone.  
  
"Right. Well, can I borrow your invisibility cloak?"  
  
He opened his eyes again, and squinted at me.   
  
"At two o'clock in the morning? What for?"  
  
"Um. Just, you know ..."  
  
"Wait, don't tell me. You've had this ground-breaking thought about that History of Magic essay and you have to run to the library right now and look it up."  
  
I smiled, relieved. Joking though he may be, he had come up with a better excuse for me to use the cloak than my frazzled mind could have.   
  
"You know me too well."  
  
Harry pushed his glasses back up his nose and regarded me suspiciously.   
  
"Are you serious? Hermione, I didn't think even you were that obsessed with-"  
  
"I know. But, I really can't sleep. I might as well go and look up some things for Professor Binns."  
  
"Well ..."  
  
He looked doubtful, but I forced a smile.  
  
"You know, the more time I have to research, the more information I will have to help you and Ron."  
  
---  
  
With Harry's cloak pulled tightly around me, I made my way down to the Slytherin dungeons. The closer I got, the more voices I could hear. The first voice I heard was that of Professor Snape.  
  
"Missing? How could he have gone missing? Mr. Goyle, it is a well-known fact that it is near impossible to set foot on Hogwarts grounds without being detected. How you expect Mr. Malfoy to simply have 'gone missing' ..."  
  
Blood started to rush in my ears, and I found that I couldn't hear anything more. My heart was pounding so loudly I was surprised that Snape couldn't hear me.   
  
Malfoy was missing.  
  
My mind raced. What if my dream hadn't been the future? What if it had been the present? What if it was too late?  
  
I mentally played back the dream I had just had. It had taken place in the same room that Lucius had first told his son the task. I had assumed at the time that the room had been in the Malfoy's house. Was Draco a captive in his own home?  
  
It was then that it hit me. I was probably the only one who had any idea where Malfoy was, and why he was there. He certainly hadn't told anybody else what was going on.   
  
I ducked around the corner, so that Snape and the Slytherins gathered around him wouldn't see me, and took off the cloak. I took a deep breath, and ran around the corner again.  
  
"Professor Snape! I think I might be able to help you."  
  
---  
  
"So, you knew all along that Mr. Malfoy was in life-threatening danger, and yet you told nobody."  
  
I was standing in Snape's office, and it was clear that he didn't believe what I was telling him. Far from being interested in the information I was giving him, he seemed only interested in deducting points from Gryffindor for my being out of bed so late, and trying to prove to the few other teachers present that I was lying.  
  
"I promised I wouldn't tell anybody, professor, he made me promise."  
  
"I understand that you and Mr. Malfoy were never the best of friends, Miss Granger. It seems quite a co-incidence that you should start-"  
  
"Look, I know it's not believable. I know it's not. But you have to believe me, I think Malfoy is in deep trouble, and I'm trying to help him and-"  
  
"Trying to help him, are you? Or are you just trying to prevent him from being rescued? I understand you two are rivals more than anything else."  
  
I felt tiny pin-pricks behind my eyes, alerting me that I was about to cry. I swallowed and felt the tell-tale lump in my throat.  
  
"Professor, I am not lying to you. I don't know how to convince you that I'm not!"   
  
To my horror, my voice was breaking. I could feel the first couple of tears slowly making their way down my cheeks. I remembered how the last time I had cried I had been with Malfoy, and that made the lump in my throat grow bigger.  
  
"I honestly want to help you find him. But I don't know how I can convince you I'm telling the truth!"  
  
At that moment, Dumbledore entered the room with a small vial of clear liquid in his hand.  
  
"Drink this, Miss Granger."  
  
I didn't question what it was, I just swallowed it. I felt it burn its way down my throat, and looked questioningly at Dumbledore. He pointed his wand at my chest, and said;  
  
"Enervate."  
  
I could feel my eyes unfocus, and soon everything was dark.  
  
---  
  
When I opened my eyes again, I could see that I was dreaming once more. I wondered vaguely if this was a result of the potion that Dumbledore had given me, or just a strange co-incidence, but as soon as I looked through the gap in the door all my other thoughts fled.  
  
I could see Malfoy, curled up in a fetal ball on the floor of a rotten dungeon. He was shaking. His father was standing over him, yelling.  
  
"How could you do this to me, Draco? You have ruined me!"  
  
Draco looked up for a brief moment, and I could see that his face was bruised and swollen. His voice sounded strained.  
  
"I couldn't father! I'm sorry, I-"  
  
To my shock, Lucius kicked his son roughly in the gut, causing him to groan horribly.  
  
"To hell you couldn't! You are a shame to your name, Draco!"  
  
Draco's voice was muffled, and I could barely hear him.  
  
"But you've always thought that."  
  
"And what if I have? Is that what this is about? Because you could have made me proud, Draco! It was not a difficult task!"  
  
Malfoy's head rose again, and I could see him glaring painfully up at his father.  
  
"I've given up on making you proud."  
  
My eyes widened as Lucius sank his foot into his son's gut once more. I felt I could no longer stand and watch. For the first time since my dreams had started, I pushed as hard as I could on the door, and forced it open. 


	16. Chapter Sixteen

"Miss Granger? Can you hear me?"  
  
My eyes flew open, and I found myself looking into the face of Dumbledore. I jolted, and sat up abruptly.   
  
I had discovered how to end a dream, although now I wanted nothing more than to go back and find out what was happening.  
  
Dumbledore smiled at me, apparently mistaking my discomfort as an after-effect of the potion.  
  
"Well, Miss Granger. It has become apparent that you are not, in fact, lying about your knowledge of Mr. Malfoy's whereabouts. Ministry officers and others have been contacted, and are on their way to the Malfoy's residence. You should be commended."  
  
Far from reassured, I shook my head at him and spoke in a croaky voice.  
  
"He's in a dungeon. I just had another dream he's ... he's in a dungeon. I don't know if he's still in his house."  
  
Dumbledore's eyes narrowed, but I ignored him and kept going.  
  
"His father was there, too. He was ... yelling at him. Kicking him. It looked like he'd been beaten up, pretty badly."  
  
I could feel my eyes filling up with tears again, but this time I didn't resist them.  
  
"He was on the floor ... all curled up ... sh-shaking ..."  
  
I couldn't speak anymore, and my whole body began to shake with silent sobs. Under any other circumstances, I would have been mortified to be seen crying by half of the Hogwarts staff at three o'clock in the morning, still in my nightgown, but I was too far gone to care. I was scared sick.  
  
Professor McGonagall patted me awkwardly on the shoulder for a moment, before clearing her throat.  
  
"You have done all you can, Miss Granger. If you can follow me, I shall take you back to your dormitory."  
  
I looked up at her, incredulously. Back to my dormitory? I was a mess. Half of Gryffindor already thought I was going around the bend after the events of today, if anybody saw me like this that would be it.  
  
"Don't worry, Miss Granger, I don't believe anybody will be awake to see you."  
  
I turned, and saw Dumbledore giving me a sympathetic smile. I blinked at him for a moment.  
  
"What was that potion you gave me?"  
  
His smile turned a trifle guilty, and he shrugged.  
  
"A truth potion. Usually we wouldn't use it on a student, but surely you can understand the urgency of the situation."  
  
I nodded, numbly, and allowed McGonagall to take my elbow and steer me back up to Gryffindor tower.  
  
---  
  
When we entered, the first sight we were greeted with was Harry, fast asleep in an armchair. His potions essay lay forgotten on the table beside him and, I noticed, he had not written anything more since I had last seen him.   
  
"Mr Potter? Wake up, it's three o'clock in the morning."  
  
Harry started, and looked sleepily up at McGonagall. His eyes drifted from her to me, and they widened. He obviously feared that I had been caught out after curfew. I sniffled slightly, alerting McGonagall's attention.  
  
"Actually ... now that you're awake, I would like you to pass on a message to the other Gryffindors not to wake Miss Granger in the morning. If they ask questions, you can say you don't know why, but I have instructed you to do so."  
  
Harry looked at me questioningly, and then pulled on his glasses. He looked surprised.  
  
"Are you okay, Hermione?"  
  
I sniffled again, and McGonagall started to pull me away.  
  
"She's fine, Mr. Potter. You can speak with her in the morning."  
  
He looked at me, concern written all over his face. I forced a smile as McGonagall pulled me up the stairs to the girls dormitory.  
  
---  
  
If McGonagall expected me to sleep, she was sadly mistaken. I was absolutely sick with worry, and spent most of the night staring out my window with tears falling silently down my cheeks.  
  
I knew deep down that my head of house had been right in saying that I had done all I could, but I still felt entirely useless as I stared out at the same dark scenery for hours on end.  
  
All the time that I was staring out the window, my mind was filled with memories of Malfoy. Everything from seeing him curled up in the dungeon, to him calling me a mudblood, to feeling his tongue pressing against my lips. I licked my lips, absently, and felt a pang of guilt. He had wanted that kiss to mean more, and I hadn't let him. Fresh tears began to well up behind my eyes, and I tried to blink them away.   
  
In an attempt to distract myself, I glanced down at the clock on my bedside table. To my surprise, it was close to nine thirty. I knew that it had been light outside for quite a while, but I had no idea I had been zoned out for so long.  
  
After a quick shower, I decided to go and visit Dumbledore. Everybody was still in classes, but I figured I would have some kind of hall pass because of the events of the night before.   
  
I had only walked half of the way to his office when I spotted Snape walking briskly towards the hospital wing.   
  
"Professor!"  
  
He turned around, not even bothering to hide the fact that my presence annoyed him. I hurried over to him.  
  
"Have you heard anything about-"  
  
"He's in the hospital wing, Miss Granger, but he is not taking visitors."  
  
I felt like my stomach had done a back flip.   
  
He was safe, in the hospital wing.  
  
He was safe. 


	17. Chapter Seventeen

I hadn't even felt myself slipping out of consciousness, but when I looked around I found myself in the same dark corridor, with the same crack in the door to look through.   
  
Confused, I pressed my eye against the door. It was the same scene as I had seen the night before, only this time Wilder and Draco's mother were also present.   
  
I could see tears falling slowly from Mrs Malfoy's eyes, although Lucius seemed entirely unmoved by the proceedings.   
  
Wilder was standing before the hunched in form of Draco's body, his wand at the ready. My eyes widened as he began to utter the Cruciatus curse.  
  
"Cruci-"  
  
"Stop!"  
  
Draco's mother had flung herself between her son and Wilder. She was shaking.  
  
"I will not let you touch him!"  
  
Lucius ran over to his wife, and began to pull her away.  
  
"Narcissa! Please!"  
  
Wilder's upper lip began to curl.  
  
"You clearly have no control over your own family, Lucius!"  
  
Lucius rounded on Wilder, his eyes blazing.  
  
"Don't you dare tell me that I-"  
  
"I see no control here! Your son is about to be punished for his disobeying your direct order, and here is your wife defying you to protect him! What kind of order is this?"  
  
Before I knew it, Lucius had launched himself at Wilder, his wand at the ready. Wilder, however, was ready for him.  
  
"Expelliarmus!"  
  
Lucius' wand flew out of his hand. He glared at his opponent, and a low growl escaped him. I was still acutely aware of Draco and his mother in the corner, Narcissa sobbing quietly, and Draco apparently out cold.  
  
"I should not have spared you, Lucius! First, your son disobeys our orders and now this! You attack a superior!"  
  
Narcissa had risen from the corner, and had her wand pointing directly at Wilder's chest. She opened her mouth to utter a spell, but he was too quick for her.  
  
He pointed his wand directly at Lucius and shouted;  
  
"Imperio!"  
  
A scream erupted from Lucius' mouth, but it was soon muffled by the effects of the spell.   
  
"Kill the boy!"  
  
Wilder's voice rang out across the entire dungeon, and Lucius, I knew, had no choice but to obey him.   
  
He began to walk, jerkily, towards where his wand had fallen. Wilder was laughing at him openly, and Narcissa was screaming and trying to pull her husband back.  
  
Lucius lashed out, pushing his wife back onto the stone floor. His fingers closed around his wand, and he pointed it at his son.  
  
Draco remained unconscious, and as his father advanced on him, he did not move.   
  
In a move so quick I hadn't seen it coming, Narcissa had grabbed her husband's wand, and was trying to pull it out of his hand.   
  
They struggled, and I heard Wilder muttering orders under his breath. After a moment, he took matters into his own hands and pointed his wand at Narcissa.  
  
At that moment, I saw Draco open one eye. He let out a deep groan, loud enough to distract all three of the adults from the scene at hand. They all turned as one, and Narcissa threw herself in front of her son.  
  
"I will not let you have him!"  
  
The room suddenly filled with light, and I saw the door bulge and explode open. Shards of wood showered all over the room, and about fifteen men, in Ministry of Magic uniforms, and with wands at the ready, jumped into the room. All at once, they each pointed their wands at separate people in the room and yelled;  
  
"Expelliarmus!"  
  
---  
  
"Ah, Miss Granger. Good to see you are awake."  
  
For the second time that day, I found myself greeted with the sight of Dumbledore's warm smile when I opened my eyes. My head was aching, and I had a suspicion that I had landed on it when my dream had taken over my consciousness.  
  
I glanced around the room, and was surprised to find myself in the hospital wing. Dumbledore was sitting on a stool beside my bed, his hands rested in his lap. I opened my mouth to speak but he shushed me.  
  
"I cannot stay long, Miss Granger, or Madame Pomfrey may just burst something" he spoke in an undertone, and I could see Madame Pomfrey standing a few meters away, tapping her foot.  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"You were talking to Professor Snape, and seemed to suddenly pass out on the stone floor. I believe you may have hit your head when you landed, so you're staying in the hospital wing over night for observation."  
  
"Oh. Okay."  
  
As much as I knew my dream would probably be of interest to Dumbledore, I decided it was best to wait for him to hear it from Malfoy himself. I didn't want to say anything Malfoy didn't want people to know.  
  
Madame Pomfrey ushered the headmaster out of the room, saying that I needed rest. I looked over to the stool that he had just vacated, and noticed that Malfoy was lying in the bed on the other side of it. His one eye, that wasn't entirely black and blue, was open and was regarding me with interest.  
  
"Interesting way to get in to see me, Granger."  
  
I smiled, the pain in my head momentarily forgotten.  
  
"Trust me, I could have thought of less painful ways."  
  
"I'm sure you could."  
  
An awkward silence stretched between us. I fiddled absently with my bedspread until Malfoy spoke.  
  
"It was a vision, wasn't it? The reason you passed out?"  
  
I looked over at him, and his one eye met with mine. I spoke quietly.  
  
"Yes."  
  
One of his hands came out from underneath his blankets. I saw that it was bandaged slightly, and felt another wash of pity for him. His hand reached across to my bed, but could only reach halfway.  
  
I pulled my own hand out from the covers and reached for his. He gave my hand a reassuring squeeze, and closed his eye.  
  
---  
  
I don't know how long I lay there, watching Malfoy sleep. By rights, I should have been exhausted, and I was, but my relief that he was okay overruled my fatigue.   
  
Madame Pomfrey came by a few times, but thankfully said nothing about his bandaged hand wrapped around mine. I'm sure that she was worried that the strain would be bad for his injured hand, but never once did she mention it.   
  
I must have fallen asleep eventually, because the next thing I knew I was being awoken by Madame Pomfrey with my afternoon tea. She said that she had tried to wake me for lunch, but I had been dead to the world.  
  
"Thanks" I said, gratefully taking the tray from her.   
  
I noticed, as I was eating, that my hand was free from Malfoy's grasp. I glanced over at him, but he was asleep again.   
  
After I had eaten, Madame Pomfrey told me that I was allowed a couple of visitors, provided that they didn't wake Malfoy. I requested Harry and Ron, and they came within five minutes.  
  
"Hermione! Nobody'll tell us what happened-"  
  
Ron stopped dead when he saw Malfoy lying in the bed next to me, bruised and broken. He looked from him to me and back again before Harry spoke.  
  
"So ... they got him?"  
  
I shook my head.  
  
"No. Well, they almost did. Almost killed him."  
  
Ron sat down heavily in the stool beside me, and Harry carefully sat on the end of my bed. They were both at a loss for words. I sighed.  
  
"Look, I'll explain it all later, okay? And don't worry about me, I'm not hurt or anything. I just had one of my dreams at a kind of weird time and passed out. Hit my head. But I'm okay, really."  
  
Harry jerked a thumb at Malfoy.  
  
"Well, he sure isn't."  
  
I looked at Malfoy. He really wasn't okay. His face was riddled with scabs and bruises, and the hand that was still out of the covers was heavily bandaged. His breathing was uneven and sounded painful. I looked away, not wanting to show Harry and Ron how much it concerned me to see him like that.  
  
"No. He's not."  
  
At that moment, Madame Pomfrey returned with a vial of dark liquid. I stared at it in horror. It was giving off a thoroughly disgusting odor. Did she want me to drink that? My nose wrinkled on impulse.  
  
"Don't worry, Miss Granger, this isn't for you. It's a simple potion to help Mr Malfoy's ribs knit faster."  
  
Ribs knit faster? My stomach did a flip-flop. Broken ribs. I remembered in the third year, when I had slapped Malfoy and he had been scratched by a Hippogriff . I had thought he was the biggest wuss I had ever met, but evidently not. He could be strong, when he wanted to.  
  
I watched as Madame Pomfrey gently shook Malfoy's shoulder. He winced, and opened both of his eyes. His swollen eye automatically closed again, and he squinted up at her with his one good eye. It took a moment for his eye to settle on the vial of foul-smelling potion she was offering him.   
  
Much to my annoyance, Harry started grinning, and Ron had to turn towards me so that his quiet laughter wouldn't be heard.   
  
Malfoy looked like he was going to be sick.  
  
"It's just a little potion Mr Malfoy, it'll stop your ribs from hurting so much."  
  
He swallowed, hard, and for a moment his eye left the potion and settled on Harry, who wasn't even trying to suppress his amusement. Malfoy glared at him, took the potion, and downed it with one swallow.  
  
"Good boy, you can go back to resting now. Let me know if Mr Potter or Mr Weasley are being too noisy."  
  
With that, she bustled out. I flicked my eyes between Malfoy, Ron and Harry. They were all glaring at each other. I sighed, heavily.  
  
"Uh, guys? I'm really tired. I had ... kind of a long night. Do you mind?"  
  
They both looked at me, confused, but obediently stood up and made for the door. Ron cast one last, disappointed look at me, and they were gone.  
  
Malfoy closed his eye and leaned back, a smirk on his face.  
  
"Oh, thank God for that. I was going to call Madame Pomfrey to get rid of them but you saved me the trouble."  
  
I said nothing. I felt guilty for sending Harry and Ron away, without even a full explanation of what had happened the night before. Malfoy opened his eye again and looked at me.  
  
"Come off it Granger" he said, with an uncharacteristic smile. "You know you want to be alone with me."  
  
My cheeks started burning, which made his smile grow even wider.  
  
"I'll take that as a 'yes, Draco, I really do want to be alone with you..."  
  
He didn't get to finish his sentence, though, because Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy Parkinson entered at that exact moment. He stopped in mid-sentence, and the playful smile vanished from his face. Not fast enough, though. It soon became clear that they had heard every word of his last statement.  
  
"D-Draco? What was that?"  
  
Pansy was looking at him in horror. Her jaw was sagging open, making her look even more like a pug who's tongue was hanging out. Malfoy's eyes darted quickly from me to her and back again, and then he did something so uncharacteristic that I felt my jaw drop, too.  
  
He burst out laughing.  
  
Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy and I all stared at him for what seemed like an age as he just laughed and laughed and laughed. Dimly, I realised that it must be hurting his ribs to laugh so hard for so long, but my train of thought was distracted when he finally managed to speak.  
  
"That, Pansy, was something that I pray to God you never say to me. Ever. And if you do, then I will run as fast as I can in the other direction."  
  
Pansy's pug-like eyes began to fill immediately with tears, and she automatically turned on her heel and fled from the room. Crabbe and Goyle looked questioningly Malfoy, before he motioned for them to leave. They followed Pansy out of the room, their dopey expressions illustrating that they did not understand a word of what had just happened.  
  
I looked over at Malfoy, who wasn't smiling anymore. It was as though the reality of what he had just done had sunk in. I cleared my throat.  
  
"Uh. Well, I don't think she's going to be coming back anytime soon."  
  
He looked over at me, with one eyebrow raised.  
  
"I guess not." 


	18. Chapter Eighteen

We didn't speak much for the rest of the afternoon. Madame Pomfrey came in shortly after Malfoy's laughing fit and told him to calm down, or she would give him a sleeping potion to shut him up.  
  
Sleeping potion or not, Malfoy was still asleep (and snoring, loudly) all afternoon and most of the evening. If not for the snoring, I probably would have been asleep as well. Instead, I had Ginny bring me some assignments and books from my dorm for me to work on.  
  
I tried to ignore the pointed look she gave the sleeping Malfoy as she left the room, and it was only after she had left that I noticed that his bandaged hand was reaching for me, in his sleep.  
  
---  
  
At half past eleven that night, I asked Madame Pomfrey for a sleeping potion to help me sleep through Malfoy's unbearable snoring.  
  
"Miss Granger, I can only issue sleeping potions if a patient is incapable of sleep due to medical reasons. If you really can't sleep through Mr Malfoy's snoring, I suggest you go back up to your dormitory."  
  
I looked at her, blankly.  
  
"I can go back up? Dumbledore said I was here over night."  
  
"That was the original plan, yes. But you seemed to have recovered enough to return to your dormitory."  
  
"Oh. Okay. Thanks."  
  
I stood, awkwardly, and felt a rush of blood to my head. I closed my eyes and sat heavily back down on my bed. After a moment or so, I attempted to stand again. The blood rush was more bearable, and I opened my eyes. Madame Pomfrey was looking at me skeptically. She opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted.  
  
"What? Leaving me, Granger?"  
  
I turned around so fast that I felt like my head was going to fall off. The shooting pain that pounded through my skull was so intense that I ended up flopping back down on my bed again.  
  
"Not anymore I'm not, Malfoy. But wait 'till I fall asleep before you start snoring this time, will you?"  
  
---  
  
"Time to wake up, Miss Granger. Otherwise you're going to be late to class."  
  
I opened my eyes, slowly. My head still hurt, but only a little. I climbed out of bed and cast one last look at Malfoy. He was sound asleep, a shock of light hair obscuring his eyes.   
  
I sighed, and headed off to Gryffindor tower.  
  
---  
  
The next few days passed uneventfully. As much as I wanted to, I thought it would be too weird to go and visit Malfoy in the hospital wing. Besides, I was still supposed to hate him.  
  
I had told Harry and Ron a slightly modified version of what had happened that fateful night. I told them that I had a dream that Malfoy went missing, and took Harry's cloak to go and inform Dumbledore what had happened. After I learned that he was already gone, I told them what I knew and they found him.   
  
Luckily for me, Harry did not mention the mess that I had been in when he had seen me at three o'clock that morning with Professor McGonagall. I hoped he had forgotten.  
  
It was not until four days later that I received a mysterious owl at breakfast. The note was written fairly messily, and said;  
  
Hermione,  
  
Meet me at the astronomy tower at the beginning of lunch.  
  
- Draco  
  
I told Harry and Ron that I was supposed to meet up with McGonagall for some extra transfiguration notes during lunch, and they seemed to take that easily enough.  
  
For all of the classes up until lunch, I was scanning the crowds in search of Malfoy. He obviously hadn't been allowed to go to class yet ... so why could he meet me in the astronomy tower? My brain was swimming with questions, and when lunch finally rolled around, I found myself taking the steps two at a time on the way up to the tower.  
  
When I reached the top of the stairs, I could see his back as he looked out over the grounds. He still had bandages on one of his hands, and a few scabs on his arms. I walked over and stood next to him, looking out below us.  
  
He turned when he saw me, and a small smile spread on his lips. I looked at him, and saw that his face was still faintly bruised.  
  
"You're looking better."   
  
Ignoring the statement, he looked away and said;  
  
"You surprise me, Granger. You didn't come and visit."  
  
"I know, I ... I was going to. But I thought people might think something was up if we hated each other and then-"  
  
"They're going to notice sooner or later, Granger, something IS up."  
  
He turned his silver eyes to look at me, and I averted my eyes. I knew I was going to go red, I could feel it.  
  
"Yeah. I guess so, but ... well, Harry and Ron are my best friends and you guys aren't exactly going to get along anytime soon."  
  
I looked down at my hands.  
  
"Potter and Weasley? Hermione, I think they can deal."  
  
My eyes flicked back up to his. He had called me Hermione again. Our eyes locked as he kept talking.  
  
"Does that bother you, then? That people might notice?"  
  
I saw something flash in his eyes, only for a moment, and then it was gone. I shook my head, quickly.  
  
"No, it doesn't bother me, I just think ... well, it's a big change. I don't know that people are going to react well if we're friends, after, you know, everything..."  
  
"Look, I said I was sorry, alright? What else do you want me to do?"  
  
My eyes widened. I hadn't expected him to snap at me.  
  
"I know you're sorry, I said I forgive you, remember? I'm just saying that the rest of Gryffindor aren't going to be so forgiving. Neither are Slytherin, for that matter! They haven't seemed too keen to accept me before, have they?"  
  
Malfoy glared at me.  
  
"Thanks to Pansy Parkinson, Slytherin already know. And they think they know a whole lot more than is actually true."  
  
I felt the blood rushing up to my face, and looked away. I spoke quietly.  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Yes, oh. So ashamed though you may be, I think it's only fair-"  
  
"I'm not ashamed!"  
  
"Then why are you so afraid of people finding out we're 'friends'? And while we're on the subject, is that all? A friend? Is that it?"  
  
His voice was getting louder, and his face was starting to turn slightly red. I knew that, unlike me, this was not out of embarrassment. No. Malfoy was getting very angry.  
  
"I don't want people to find out because I have friends who rightfully hate you!"  
  
"Does that mean you have a right to hate me, too?"  
  
"No! I told you already! I don't hate you! If I hated you then I wouldn't have told Snape where you were! I saved your life, remember?!"  
  
His hands snaked out and gripped my shoulders. He glared down at me.  
  
"I know that, Granger, stop changing the subject! Are we friends, or not?"  
  
It was only then that I realised how close our faces were. We were barely centimeters apart. Glaring or not, I was still acutely aware of how good looking he was that close.  
  
I didn't even think, I just snaked my hand around his neck and pulled his mouth down onto mine. At first, his whole body went rigid in shock, but he soon melted into the kiss.   
  
This time, I didn't pull away. 


	19. Chapter Nineteen

The kiss seemed to last forever. One of his arms went around to the small of my back and pulled me closer, while the other hand grabbed a handful of my bushy hair and hung on tightly.  
  
My right hand was curled around his neck, trying to push him as close to me as I could, while my left hand found its way around his waist and fumbled up under his shirt.  
  
After what seemed like an age, Malfoy pulled his tongue out of my mouth and pulled his head away from mine. I opened my eyes, and saw that he was smiling.  
  
"Well, I guess that answers that" he said, softly.  
  
I tried to pull his head back down but he resisted, instead reaching behind his head and holding my hand.   
  
"Now, now, Granger. Show some restraint. Weren't you ever told to pay hard to get?"  
  
It was my turn to smile, looking up at him.  
  
"Right. I think the last six years up until a week ago could be classified as 'playing hard to get', if you want to look at it like that."  
  
"True."  
  
We looked at each other for a moment, as if seeing each other for the first time. I noticed that his lips were slightly swollen, and that they matched the slight swelling that was still around one of his eyes. I traced the bruise across his eye with my finger.  
  
"What happened?"  
  
He looked away, and I flinched.  
  
"Sorry. If you don't want to-"  
  
"No. It's okay. I guess you already know most of the story, anyway" he sighed, heavily. "How much did you see?"  
  
I pulled my hand out from under his shirt, and he looked down at my hand, as if only just noticing it had been there. He raised his eyebrows. I looked away from him before I spoke.  
  
"Well ... I saw Wilder talking to you, when you were strapped onto this huge chair" I thought for a moment. "Your hair went in your face, and you couldn't brush it out because your hands were strapped up-"  
  
I stopped, noticing that he was shaking his head.  
  
"What?" I asked, frowning.  
  
"You are unbelievable."  
  
My frown deepened. He hadn't said it as a compliment.  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?"  
  
He smirked at my frown, and pushed a single strand of hair off my face.  
  
"All the things that happened that night and you remembered my HAIR?"  
  
I felt my cheeks turn slightly scarlet.  
  
"Well, you ... you were struggling with the binds on the chair. You looked really uncomfortable."  
  
He continued shaking his head, smirking, but I ignored him.  
  
"Anyway, last thing I heard was Wilder asking some guards to take you away. Next dream I had you were in a dungeon with your father."  
  
There was a short silence, while Malfoy collected his thoughts. He pulled away from me and turned to face the window before he spoke. I walked over and stood next to him.  
  
"Wilder punched me. A few times. Making it easier for the guards to take me, I guess" he closed his eyes for a moment. "The guards were dementors. I thought they were going to ... to perform the ..."   
  
He gestured with his hands, still with his eyes closed. After a moment he opened them and shrugged.  
  
"Well, the bottom line is that they didn't. I really thought they would, though. And when Wilder and my Father left me alone in a cell with one I panicked. I was bashing on the door, yelling at them to come back and get me."   
  
He held up his bandaged hand and smiled, wryly.  
  
"I think I might have overdone it a little."  
  
I swallowed, trying to dilute the image in my mind of a panicked Draco screaming and beating a heavy door, a dementor advancing on him.  
  
"Anyway ... they did come back in, eventually. I don't know why they didn't just let the dementor do the dirty work, really, but they did come back. Or at least, my Father did..."  
  
Something about the way he said 'father' sent a shiver down my spine that had nothing to do with the cold. With that one word it became evident that whatever father-son love had once existed, now there was nothing left but hate.   
  
I cleared my throat, to stop him from having to recount this part of the story.  
  
"I saw that."  
  
My voice came out hoarse, and didn't sound like my own. Malfoy looked at me for a moment, and then nodded.  
  
"Right. Well, after that my mother and Wilder came in and ..."  
  
"I saw that, too."  
  
"Oh" he paused. "Well, you probably saw more than I did. I was kind of out for most of that."  
  
"Yes, you were. I saw everything up to when the ministry men came in."  
  
Malfoy snorted.  
  
"You didn't miss anything. They made such a show of arresting my Father that Ii don't think they even noticed anybody else was in the room until he was gone."  
  
My eyes widened.  
  
"They arrested Lucius? What about Wilder?"  
  
"I told you. They didn't care about anybody else except my father. Wilder got away."  
  
"HE GOT AWAY?!"  
  
Malfoy flinched, I was practically shouting in his ear but I didn't care.  
  
"How could they have let him get away?! That's ridiculous!"  
  
"You think I don't know that?"  
  
He pushed a hand angrily through his hair. I sighed.  
  
"I told Snape that there was somebody else there ... I thought they'd get him, not your father."  
  
"They would've taken him anyway."  
  
Malfoy turned and looked down at me, his silver eyes glinting in the sunlight. He touched my arm.  
  
"Look, don't beat yourself up" he said. "My father had it coming for ages. All they needed was evidence, really. Evidence that couldn't be covered up by bribes."  
  
I was about to open my mouth to protest, when the bell rang. I groaned.  
  
"I have to go. I have Care of Magical Creatures class now" I looked sideways at him. "Are you going to classes again, yet?"  
  
He shook his head.  
  
"Nope. I don't have to go until tomorrow, thank God. A lesson outside listening to that bloody clumsy oaf-"  
  
He stopped himself, and pressed his lips tightly together, as if he hadn't meant to say that in front of me. I glared at him.  
  
"He is not a clumsy oaf!"  
  
Malfoy rolled his eyes.  
  
"Oh, come off it. No matter where your loyalties lie, Granger, I know you aren't a blithering idiot. The guy can't teach to save his life. Or anybody else's, for that matter."  
  
My glare deepened. Deep down I knew Malfoy was right, but damned if I was going to admit it to him. Or myself.  
  
"He can teach brilliantly! You're just never paying any attention to him! Too busy cackling with your cronies and-"  
  
"Alright, alright" he held up his hands in an 'I surrender' gesture. "Just forget I said anything. I have to go back to the common room and catch up on homework."  
  
"Fine."  
  
"Fine."  
  
We glared at each other for a moment, before his gaze softened. He pushed my chin up, quickly, and softly brushed his lips against mine. Surprised by his action, I made to take a step back. He pulled away and looked down at me.  
  
With a wink, he was gone. 


	20. Chapter Twenty

I was ten minutes late getting to Care of Magical Creatures.  
  
Normally I would have been ashamed of myself, but it was no joke getting all the way from the astronomy tower down to Hagrid's hut at speed. I was surprised I made it there before the lesson finished.  
  
"Oh, there you are 'Mione. Thought you mighta been hurt or summat. You alright?"  
  
I nodded, and was thankful that he didn't ask any more questions.  
  
Harry and Ron exchanged meaningful glances, but looked away as soon as they saw me watching them. I frowned.  
  
When the lesson ended, I hurried over to them to talk, but they ignored me.  
  
"Harry? Ron? Oh, for heavens sake."  
  
I walked in front of them and glared at them both.  
  
"Care to tell me why you're both so mad at me?"  
  
They both glared at me, but said nothing. I rolled my eyes and stormed off.  
  
---  
  
I flopped down on a lounge in the common room after last class. I hadn't spoken to Harry or Ron for the rest of the day, and had been desperate to escape the deafening silence at dinner.  
  
Normally, I would have gone to the library, but I decided to stay by the fire and work on my Transfiguration assignment. After a while, Ginny came in and took a seat in the corner, reading a book.  
  
"Hey, Ginny."  
  
She looked up, turned scarlet, and looked away again. I frowned.  
  
"Um, what's wrong?"  
  
"Nothing" she said, without raising her head from her work.  
  
"Ginny, I am sick to death of people saying that. Harry and Ron have been acting all weird too ... whats wrong?"  
  
Resignedly, Ginny closed her book and looked at me.  
  
"Well, I really thought they would've told you. Or that, you know, you would've figured it out."  
  
"Figured what out?" I asked.  
  
"Alright. You didn't hear this from me, okay? I just ... well I reckon you should know whats up" she swallowed. "Okay, well, in divination a couple of days ago, Harry saw something in the crystal ball. He said it was the first real image he's ever got."  
  
I kept quiet my opinions of divination, and let Ginny continue.  
  
"The image was ... well ... it was you, and Malfoy. In the astronomy tower. Kissing. Apparently it was pretty hot."  
  
I sucked in my breath, and felt my cheeks begin to heat up.  
  
"What, so he believed it, just because it was in a stupid crystal ball?"  
  
Ginny shook her head, hurriedly, sending her red locks flying.  
  
"No. He and Ron thought it was hilarious. They were laughing about it all through lunch."  
  
"So? Why were they mad at me?"  
  
"I'm getting to that, Hermione, just give me a minute. Basically, they wanted to ask you about some Charms stuff, so they were going to go and meet you outside McGonagall's office."  
  
My heart did a horrible lurch, and I felt my mouth going dry.  
  
"They waited and waited but when you didn't come out they asked McGonagall how much longer you were going to be. She said she didn't have an appointment with you or anything."  
  
I closed my eyes. I had a bad feeling about what was coming.  
  
"So, they were really weirded out. They were really curious because you told them you were with her and ... you weren't. As a joke, Harry thought they should check up at the astronomy tower."  
  
I clutched at Ginny's arm, desperately.  
  
"Did they? Did they check the tower?"  
  
Ginny frowned at me.  
  
"Yeah, they did. They met him halfway down the stairs, though."  
  
I tried to hide my sigh of relief, though I was very aware that my reaction had probably alerted Ginny that there was more than met the eye.  
  
"Anyway, so they had one of their usuals with Malfoy. I think Ron actually aimed a punch at him, or something. They got caught, by Professor Sinistra, and Ron got a detention."  
  
"Is that why he's mad at me?"  
  
Ginny rolled her eyes.  
  
"Just wait, okay? I'm getting to that. So Ron was really mad at Malfoy because now he had a detention because of him, on top of everything else. Anyway, just out of curiosity, because it was a weird co-incidence that Malfoy was there, they went to the top of the tower and ... you were there, too. So it was kind of obvious that you'd met up with Malfoy."  
  
I covered my face with my hands, feeling like just disappearing into the carpet. Ginny continued.  
  
"They ran down to Care of Magical Creatures, so that they wouldn't be late for Hagrid, and then apparently you got there really late. They said you took your own sweet time getting back, actually."  
  
I exhaled, gustily, and met Ginny's eye.  
  
"Alright. I met Malfoy up at the astronomy tower. Just ... well, I'd rather tell Harry and Ron firsthand, okay?"  
  
"You don't really need to tell them, they saw-"  
  
"I know they did, and I'll have a talk to them later. They just didn't seem too keen on speaking to me before."  
  
"Within reason."  
  
"I guess so."  
  
I frowned at the fire, waiting for Harry and Ron to get back from dinner, all the while wondering how my life had gotten so complicated.  
  
---  
  
When Harry and Ron finally decided to show themselves in the common room, I was ready for them.  
  
With a cover story.  
  
Alright, I felt horrible and guilty about it, but I really didn't know how to tell them the truth about me and Malfoy. Especially since I didn't really know what the truth between us was in the first place.  
  
"Harry? Ron? Look, I need to apologize. About ... about Malfoy."  
  
The boys glared at me, but I continued talking.  
  
"You were right, I did meet him today. I lied. And I'm really sorry."  
  
"Yeah, well, you should be!" Ron spat.  
  
"Please, can you let me explain?"  
  
Harry's glare did not faulter, but he nodded. I swallowed.  
  
"Well, you know what happened a couple of days ago. The whole ... thing. With him nearly getting killed. Well, not many people know what really happened and I only knew bits of it. I wanted to get the story straight, once and for all."  
  
"So you met him in the astronomy tower, all alone?!" Harry cried, incredulously. I stuck my chin out.  
  
"Yeah. I did. Its kind of personal, the stuff that happened. So I just wanted to make sure that I had all my facts straight, for real. I didn't want people listening in or anything."  
  
Ron snorted, disbelievingly.  
  
"So that was why he was actually smiling when he came around the corner? I swear, I didn't even know the guy COULD smile."  
  
I tried to stop my face going red with the power of my mind.  
  
"I don't know" I said. "Maybe he saw somebody fall down the stairs or something."  
  
Harry shook his head.  
  
"Look, I want to believe you. I really do. But-"  
  
"If you want to believe me then why is there a but? Harry, I'm not lying to you!"  
  
I wanted the carpet to swallow me up. I was a horrible, lying, untrustworthy person.  
  
There was a silence, during which Harry and Ron looked at each other, then me, and finally Ron spoke.  
  
"Alright. We believe you. It's just, that crystal ball thing kind of freaked us out."  
  
"Tell me about it" Harry said, shaking his head. "That was so vivid, it was really scary."  
  
I smiled.  
  
"I imagine it would be. Me, kissing Malfoy? Ugh. I think I'm going to go upstairs and brush my teeth, now ..."  
  
They laughed, and I felt my guilt creeping up on me. 


	21. Chapter TwentyOne

The first lesson the next morning was Potions.  
  
I was expecting everything to go as usual, until Malfoy entered late and tried to take his seat between Crabbe and Pansy. To my surprise, Pansy kicked up a huge fuss.  
  
"Draco! Don't you even TRY and sit next to me! Go sit with your precious GRANGER why don't you?"  
  
She had not even bothered to keep her shrill voice down. The entire class, both Gryffindor and Slytherin, heard her words. Dozens of heads swiveled to look at me with interest, while I tried very hard to look confused and insulted, without turning red.   
  
Finally, Snape was the one that saved me from their gazes.   
  
"Miss Parkinson, if you would care to keep your voice down. Mr Malfoy, there is a spare seat between-" a smirk spread across his face "-Miss Granger and Mr Longbottom. Hurry up and sit down."  
  
My hands began to feel clammy. With Harry and Ron sitting together, this meant I would be making todays Potion paired up with Malfoy. I felt a surge of pity for Neville, who would never pass the days class without my help.   
  
As Malfoy took his seat next to me, I felt him slip something into my robe pocket. I pretended I hadn't felt it, and watched as Snape gave the method for todays potion.  
  
"Today we are making the Giliath potion. Can anybody tell me-"  
  
My hand was already up but, as usual, Snape ignored me.  
  
"-what this is used for? Mr Malfoy?"  
  
I turned around to glare at Malfoy, who gave me his trademark smirk. No matter how often he kissed me, and no matter what he said, I knew that I would always hate that smirk.  
  
"It's used to make plants grow faster, Professor."  
  
"Very good. Ten points to Slytherin."  
  
My glare deepened and, much to my annoyance, Malfoy looked like he might just start laughing.   
  
"The method is on the board-" the ingredients and method appeared on the board behind him "-you have one period. Get to it."  
  
As soon as people started talking and bustling to get their ingredients, Malfoy started to laugh. I frowned.  
  
"You can stop laughing now, it wasn't that funny."  
  
He stopped laughing and smirked at me.  
  
"Oh, you know that it was. Your face! You looked like somebody was forcing you to eat a flobberworm when he gave Slytherin ten points!"  
  
I stormed off to get our ingredients. At least, I thought, people wouldn't have any trouble believing we still hated each other. He could still be as insufferable as ever.  
  
After fifteen minutes of working in silence, Neville came cautiously over.  
  
"H-Hermione? I kind of ..."  
  
I looked at him sympathetically, but shook my head.  
  
"I'm sorry, Neville, Snape gets mad enough when I do most of the work in our pair but-"  
  
"Shove off, Longbottom, we are trying to make a potion here. Don't want your butterfingers anywhere near it."  
  
My mouth opened in outrage but Neville was the one who spoke first.  
  
"Shut up, Malfoy! I'm sick of you trying to p-push us around!"  
  
Apart from the stutter, I had to admit, it was quite a show of courage for Neville. It was unfortunate that Snape was standing only meters away, and heard the entire exchange.  
  
"Ten points from Gryffindor, Longbottom, and I expect to see you after class."  
  
Neville turned a sickening shade of green, and bustled back over to his potion. Malfoy smirked at his retreating form.  
  
"Is it any wonder why I hated you, Malfoy?" I asked, glaring at him.  
  
He smiled for a moment, his real smile, but soon changed it into a sneer.  
  
"You know you love me, Granger."  
  
The corners of my mouth lifted up, just for a second, before I busied myself cutting roots.   
  
---  
  
It was only during Arithmancy that afternoon that I remembered the note Malfoy had slipped into my pocket. Hoping that it hadn't been too urgent, I slowly unfolded the parchment and read the note.  
  
Hermione,  
  
Room of Requirement, after dinner.  
  
- DM  
  
My heart skipped a beat. After dinner? How was I going to get away from Harry and Ron and Ginny without being to suspicious?  
  
I'll admit that my mind was more occupied by this dilemma than it was on Arithmancy that lesson. By the end of the lesson I decided just to tell them that I was going to the library to do some research. They couldn't really check up on me, there.  
  
I felt horrible as the thoughts formed in my mind, and I knew that sooner or later I was going to have to tell them the truth.  
  
---  
  
"Leaving already?" Ginny asked me, looking confused.  
  
"Yeah. I want to go and work on some homework in the library. I'll meet you guys in the common room at curfew, okay?"  
  
Harry and Ron both nodded, their mouths stuffed so full of food that they couldn't speak.  
  
One quick glance to the Slytherin table told me that Malfoy had already left, so I bustled out as fast as I could. 


	22. Chapter TwentyTwo

Authors Note: AAAH! I've managed to confuse all of my days ... I started out on a friday night and then it was saturday and ... well, I'm all confused. So just pretend all the days are right =P  
  
---  
  
As I entered the Room of Requirement, a small smile danced across my lips.   
  
Malfoy had done the room up just like a comfortable living room, complete with a warm fireplace in one corner. Admittedly, some of the ornaments and books had a dark feel to them, but that was to be expected. It was Malfoy, after all.   
  
"Hi" I said, smiling at him. "Nice room."  
  
"Yeah. I'm sick of the leather chairs in the Slytherin room. Besides-" he smiled like a snake "-it's much more private in here."  
  
He walked over and pointed his wand at the door. Quietly, he said a locking charm. My eyes widened and he smiled.  
  
"I ran into Potter and the Weasel on the way down yesterday. You want to keep this a secret, then you got to do it right."  
  
I smiled at him, but then I remembered ...  
  
"I think most people are starting to get some idea. After Pansy in Potions."  
  
"Lord" he ran a hand through his hair. "I can't believe she said that. In front of the whole class!"  
  
"Yeah. That was kind of harsh. And heaps of them turned around and looked at me, too."  
  
Malfoy looked alarmed for a moment.  
  
"You didn't turn red, did you?"  
  
I glared at him, sarcastically, trying to hide the fact that I could feel my cheeks heating up.  
  
"No. I can feel it when I do."  
  
Malfoy smirked.  
  
"Like, right now?"  
  
Now I was really gone. My face felt like it was on fire.   
  
"Exactly like right now."  
  
His smirk melted into a smile, and he walked over to me.  
  
"Don't worry, Granger. You're cute when you're angry, but you're even cuter when you're embarrassed."  
  
If possible, I felt myself turn even redder, and his smile widened. Gently, he lifted my chin and found my mouth with his.  
  
We kissed over and over again, each time getting more breathless. He started walking backwards, pulling me with him until he found one of the couches and sat down. He pulled me sideways into his lap, and one hand began to explore under the back of my shirt. I let out a small gasp and pulled away.  
  
Malfoy grinned at me.  
  
"Too hot to handle, eh Granger?"  
  
I leaned back and rested my head in the curve of his shoulder. His arm found its way around my back and held me tightly. I smiled into his shirt.  
  
"Something like that. Look, I feel really bad about lying to Harry and Ron and Ginny" I made a frustrated noise. "But I really don't know how they're going to take this."  
  
Malfoy shrugged, and his voice reverberated through his chest as he spoke.  
  
"They can't take it any worse than Pansy."  
  
"That's because Pansy thought you liked her."  
  
"I did. That's beside the point. Potter and Weasley might think you like them."  
  
I frowned, and pulled away from his shoulder to look at him.  
  
"I really don't think so."  
  
I heard a knock on the door, and spun around so fast I fell out of Malfoy's lap and onto the carpet.  
  
"Hermione? Are you in there? It's Harry. Let me in."  
  
My eyes widened in horror, and I turned to Malfoy.  
  
Through an unspoken agreement, he vaulted over the chair and hid behind it, while I plucked a book off the shelf, to make it look like I'd been reading, and went to open the door.  
  
"Hey, Harry."  
  
I was speaking to thin air, I realised, because Harry was wearing his cloak.  
  
"I thought you were going to the library."  
  
"I was ... but I decided to come down here instead" I gestured to the room. "Much cozier. How did you find me, anyway?"  
  
There was a silence.  
  
"Ron kind of ... followed you."  
  
My eyes bulged.  
  
"He WHAT?"  
  
"Well, last time you said you were going to McGonagall, and-"  
  
"Harry! I thought you said you believed me!"  
  
"We do! Just ... well, between you and me, I think Ron might be getting a bit jealous. You haven't hung around with us much lately and-"  
  
"Jealous? Why on earth would he be jealous?"  
  
"I dunno. I'm just saying."  
  
I pushed a hand through my hair, and realised in a rush that I had picked that up from Malfoy.  
  
"Okay. So why did you come down, then? If Ron followed me?"  
  
"It's after curfew. I brought the cloak for you."  
  
"Oh. Okay. Thanks."  
  
My eyes darted frantically over to the chair that Malfoy was hiding behind. I hoped that he would get back to his common room safely.  
  
"Wow. This room is really nice, Hermione."  
  
To my horror, Harry stepped into the room, took off the cloak, and started making his way towards the fire.  
  
"Stop!"  
  
He whirled around, and gave me a curious look.  
  
"Uh, you said it was after curfew? Maybe we should be getting back."  
  
Harry smiled at me, and sat down in the nearest armchair. The very chair that Malfoy was hiding behind.  
  
"Don't worry, we have the cloak. I doubt anybody's going to come in here and check. Besides, you had a pretty good locking charm on that door."  
  
My smile froze into place. I'm sure I must have looked clinically insane, smiling like that.  
  
"Really, Harry, we ought to get back. What if somebody DOES come in?"  
  
Harry rolled his eyes, but stood up all the same.  
  
"Fine. Ron needs some help with his History of Magic, anyway."  
  
"Right."  
  
We pulled the cloak on, and I stole a look at Malfoy's chair before we walked out.  
  
---  
  
The next morning, at breakfast, Ron looked very angry. He was attacking his toast with a vengeance.  
  
"Uh, Ron, are you alright?"  
  
"I have a detention tonight! And I just found out that Malfoy has one too. That means I have to spend HOURS with that git."  
  
I frowned.  
  
"I thought only you got a detention the other day."  
  
Harry spoke for Ron, who had shoved the entire piece of toast in his mouth in one go.  
  
"He did. But apparently Malfoy got one last night for staying out of bed past curfew. Sinistra caught him, too, so they have detention together."  
  
I slowly swallowed my mouthful of porridge. Malfoy hadn't got back to his common room safely last night, after all.   
  
"On the up side" Harry said. "It's another Hogsmeade weekend tomorrow. We could always take the cloak and give Malfoy a hell of a fright if he was being a git to Ron."  
  
Ron sighed.  
  
"You say that like there's a possibility he won't be."  
  
I looked down at my bowl of porridge, and said nothing. 


	23. Chapter TwentyThree

That evening, I was putting the finishing touches on a Arithmancy essay that wasn't due for two weeks, when Ron returned from his detention.  
  
He was scowling.  
  
"Unbelievable! Sinistra made us scrub the stairs all the way up to the top of the astronomy tower!"  
  
I patted his arm. Just walking up those stairs was enough to make me tired, sometimes, I couldn't imagine having to scrub every single one.  
  
"That's awful, Ron."  
  
"Yeah. Only good part was that Malfoy started at the top and I started at the bottom, so we didn't have to actually be anywhere near each other most of the time."  
  
"Oh, well, that's good, at least. You just missed Harry, he just went up to bed."  
  
I expected Ron to go straight up, but instead he stood there and looked at me curiously.  
  
"You know, he said the weirdest thing, Malfoy. As soon as I saw him the first thing he said was something about us starting at separate ends so we wouldn't end up fighting again and getting in trouble. I mean, I didn't mind or anything, but it was kind of a weird thing for MALFOY to say. I always reckoned he liked making me mad."  
  
I shrugged, trying to look unconcerned.  
  
"Maybe he just didn't want to get another detention."  
  
"I guess. But still, kind of weird."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
I pretended to be engrossed in my essay, which was actually finished. I stretched myself and stood up.  
  
"I'm going to bed, goodnight Ron."  
  
"Alright. G'night."  
  
I walked up to my dormitory, wondering vaguely if Malfoy would be at Hogsmeade tomorrow.  
  
---  
  
I was rudely awakened at about eight by an incessant tapping on the window. An owl was pecking on my window, a scrap of parchment tied to it's leg.  
  
Groaning, I got out of bed and opened the window, allowing the owl to fly in and perch on my bedside table. Slowly, I fumbled with the note until it came free.   
  
Hermione,  
  
Didn't realise until this morning that I never asked; Are you going to Hogsmeade today?  
  
If you are, I'll meet you at the Hogs Head at one thirty.  
  
If you're not, I'll notice before then.  
  
- DM  
  
I sat heavily down on my bed again. This was it. I would have to tell Harry and Ron where I was going, or else there was no way I could get away. I knew that I didn't strictly HAVE to go to Hogsmeade, nor was it essential that I met up with him but ...   
  
I really wanted to.  
  
If somebody had of told me that a few months before, I would have laughed in their face. But, to tell the truth, I was really starting to like the guy.  
  
Besides, I was going to have to tell the others sooner or later.  
  
---  
  
"Morning, Harry, Ron" I said, brightly. "Are you guys going to Hogsmeade today?"  
  
They both nodded, and I swallowed. This was it.  
  
"Um, do you guys mind if I-"  
  
My words were drowned out by the arrival of the daily post. I wondered why Malfoy's owl hadn't come with these. He must have told it to take it straight to my room, I supposed.  
  
The Daily Prophet landed heavily in my lap, I gasped and nearly spat my cereal everywhere.   
  
It took me a moment to catch my breath back, and pay the owl which was now impatiently pecking at my hand. By the time this was done, Harry and Ron had told me they were going up to the common room to get their money and coats.  
  
I looked around the table for Ginny, but she was gone too. Sighing, I stood up and made my way to the Entrance Hall, to wait for them.  
  
About halfway there, I ran into Malfoy. To my surprise, he was alone. I saw Crabbe and Goyle in the distance with Pansy. He fell into step with me for a moment, before subtly grabbing my arm and pulling me into an empty classroom.  
  
Before I could even open my mouth to say hello, he kissed me. I got quite a shock, but quickly wrapped my arms around him and pulled him closer. After kissing for a moment, he pulled away and smiled at me.  
  
"Got my owl, Granger?"  
  
Ignoring his question, I poked him in the ribs.  
  
"Why are we still on last names?" I asked.  
  
He shrugged.  
  
"I'd hate for one of us to slip up and say the wrong name in front of people."  
  
"Oh. Fair enough."  
  
"Really, I thought you were supposed to be the smartest girl in school."  
  
I gave him a withering look, and he grinned.  
  
"I did get your owl, actually, but I don't know if I can go. Harry and Ron still-"  
  
"Don't know? Yeah, I sort of figured that after detention with the Weasel last night."  
  
I frowned at his tone of voice. And his use of his old nickname for Ron.  
  
"He said you guys didn't talk."  
  
"Oh, really? Then, he must have omitted the part where he yelled at me for meeting you at the top of the astronomy tower. He said he 'doubted my intentions.' How did he know we were up there, anyway?"  
  
I closed my eyes massaged my temples with my index fingers. Trust Ron to say something like that.  
  
"They met you on the way down, and saw me at the top. We had a bit of a fight about it."  
  
"You see? I told you Weasley liked you."  
  
"He does not!" My voice came out shriller than I had expected, but I continued anyway. "He's just ... well, maybe he really does doubt your intentions."  
  
Malfoy traced my jawline with one finger.  
  
"Do you? Doubt my intentions, I mean."  
  
I swallowed. I hadn't really thought about his 'intentions', so to speak. I settled for smiling up at him.  
  
"That depends on what they are."  
  
He leaned down closer, and I could feel his breath on my cheek.  
  
"I would have thought that would be rather obvious, Granger."  
  
His lips met mine once more, and he pushed my back up against the wall. My heart started beating fast as I draped both of my arms around his neck. I felt his arms come around my waist. One of his hands went under the back of my shirt again, while his other hand pushed me closer to him.   
  
When he pulled away to breathe, I grabbed him and pushed his mouth back down on mine again, harder. He closed his eyes and ran his hand up and down my back, under my shirt, sending shivers down my spine.  
  
After a while, he pulled away again for a breather. We were both panting, and I pressed my forehead against his and closed my eyes. When I opened them again, his gray eyes were glancing over at the door. He sighed.  
  
"We better go, somebody might come in and find us."  
  
I nodded, and he kissed me, lightly, one last time before making for the door. I grabbed his arm to stop him.  
  
"Do you still want to meet up at the Hogs Head?" I asked.  
  
His eyes twinkled suggestively, which made my cheeks heat up a little.  
  
"If you can ditch Potter and the Weasel."  
  
My smile faded.  
  
"I wish you wouldn't call him that."  
  
"Why not? I'm sure he calls ME all manner of interesting things."  
  
I frowned, but didn't say anything.  
  
"You see" he said, tapping my nose. "The Malfoy is always right."  
  
With that, he flitted out the door. 


	24. Chapter TwentyFour

"Hermione! Where did you go? We were waiting for you."  
  
I walked over to where Harry, Ron and Ginny were standing.  
  
"You guys took ages so I got bored and went up to the library for a bit."  
  
Ron shook his head incredulously.  
  
"We were only gone fifteen minutes!" He cried. "I think that might actually be a disease or something ... libraryitis"  
  
I swatted at him, and he laughed.   
  
The four of us chatted all the way to Hogsmeade, and I lost track of time. By the time I finally asked Harry what the time was, I was horrified to hear that it was twenty past one already.  
  
"What? Are you supposed to be somewhere or something?" He asked me, when he saw my alarmed expression.  
  
Alright, I thought. Here goes.  
  
"I, uh, I'm supposed to be meeting somebody at one thirty."  
  
This was greeted with silence. Harry, Ron and Ginny all stared at me, but nobody said anything for a long time.  
  
"Well? Don't leave us in suspense! Who is it?" Ron finally asked.  
  
I swallowed. Clearing my throat, I said;  
  
"Well ... Look, don't be mad at me okay? I just said I'd meet up with Malfoy for a bit, just to ask him some stuff-"  
  
"MALFOY?!"  
  
I jumped about a foot in the air. When I looked at Ron, I could see that his face was turning as red as his hair as he yelled at me.  
  
"What is it with you and him? This is the second time this week you've met up with him!"  
  
I flinched, knowing that, actually, it was the third. Fourth if you counted that morning.   
  
Ron didn't need to know that.  
  
"I know, Ron. But he really doesn't have anybody to talk to about this. Seriously. And it was like I was there anyway and-"  
  
"I DON'T CARE! I can't believe you trust that guy!"  
  
My anger flared.  
  
"Ronald Weasley! You do not dictate who I am and am not allowed to talk to! Besides, I never said I trusted him! I just said that I need to talk to him!"  
  
Harry and Ginny had been watching the entire exchange, open mouthed. Finally, Harry spoke.  
  
"Hermione, seriously, he's a complete git, and I think he can deal without you, after insulting you for all those years. Even if he really does need your help, he doesn't deserve it."  
  
I glared at him, turned on my heel, and left.  
  
---  
  
Entering the Hogs Head, I scanned the crowd for a familiar shock of blond hair.   
  
After a moment, I spotted him, sitting in the far corner with a half-drunk bottle of butterbeer.  
  
I stormed over to the seat opposite him, and sat down. I glared out the window, just to make sure the others hadn't followed me.  
  
"Well, you sure look happy to see me."  
  
My eyes darted over to Malfoy, who's eyebrow was raised. I sighed.  
  
"It's not you. Harry and Ron are being really weird about this-"  
  
"Ah. So you told them who you were meeting, I take it."  
  
I nodded, and pushed my hair out of my face angrily.  
  
"Yes. Ron had an absolute fit, and Harry didn't seem too happy either. And that was when I said I was TALKING to you. God knows what they'd say if they knew the rest of it."  
  
Malfoy grinned at me from across the table, and pushed his butterbeer over for me to drink. I gratefully took it, and had a healthy sip.  
  
"Well, then" he said. "I guess that means it stays a secret."  
  
I swallowed my sip and shook my head at him.  
  
"How can it? The whole class heard Pansy in potions and-"  
  
"They all thought she was insane. This is my word over hers, Granger. No prizes for guessing who they all believe."  
  
"But ... I saw her this morning with Crabbe and Goyle."  
  
"She's going out with Goyle. Isn't that hilarious? I laughed for about an hour when I heard about it."  
  
I tried to hide my smile by taking another sip of butterbeer. By the time I swallowed it, I could keep a straight face.  
  
"I thought you would have been with Crabbe and Goyle. You usually are."  
  
"I know" he said, and raised his eyebrow. "But, like Goyle, I guess preferred to spend some time with my girl."  
  
I had made the horrid mistake of taking a large sip of butterbeer just before he said this, and managed to inhale it. I launched into a spectacular coughing fit, sending little drops of butterbeer showering over both of us.  
  
Malfoy didn't really help the matter by sitting their laughing so hard he looked like he was about to fall off his chair.  
  
When I finally caught my breath back, it hit me all at once how good Malfoy looked when he was laughing. His light hair was falling in his eyes, which were scrunched up and had tears of mirth twinkling in them. His entire body was shaking, and we were attracting a lot of strange looks from the other witches and wizards in the tavern.  
  
After a while, his laughter finally quietened, and he wiped his eyes.  
  
"Good Lord, Granger. I don't think I've ever laughed that hard in my life."  
  
"Oh, that time in the Hospital Wing came close."  
  
His gaze suddenly traveled over my shoulder, towards the door. I turned around just in time to see Harry, Ron and Ginny entering.  
  
They hadn't noticed us, sitting in the corner sharing a bottle of butterbeer, but I knew it was only a matter of time. I sighed.  
  
"I better go. I wouldn't be able to stand another fight with them, today."  
  
Malfoy nodded, silently, and I stood up and walked over to the other Gryffindors. Ron glared at me.  
  
"Thought you'd be off with MALFOY."  
  
I rolled my eyes at him, and sat down at their table.  
  
"I told you, Ron, I just wanted to talk to him."  
  
Ron scowled, but didn't say anything.  
  
After a while, the deafening silence at the table started to drive me insane.  
  
"Look, if you guys are just going to sit there and give me evil vibes, I might as well just go back to Hogwarts!"  
  
"Why don't you then?" Ron asked, loudly. "You could go and see Professor McGonagall, just like you did the other day!"  
  
"For God's sake, Ron!" I yelled. "Would you just let it go?"  
  
"NO I WON'T! Hermione, that guy has been being the biggest GIT the world has EVER seen to us, ever since first year! And now you two are all friendly all of a sudden ... WHY? Doesn't the word MUDBLOOD mean ANYTHING to you?!"  
  
On impulse, I picked up Ron's butterbeer and upturned it onto his head. Then I stood up, and stormed out of the tavern. 


	25. Chapter TwentyFive

I hadn't walked far, when Malfoy caught up to me.   
  
"Whoa. What was that?"  
  
I rounded on him, glaring, and started to yell.  
  
"THAT WAS RON BEING AN INSUFFERABLE GIT!"  
  
To my annoyance, Malfoy grinned at me.  
  
"Yeah, I saw THAT. I meant, what was with pouring the butterbeer on his head?"  
  
I sighed, heavily, and covered my face with my hands.  
  
"It seemed like a good idea at the time" I said, my voice muffled.  
  
Surprisingly, Malfoy put an arm around me and steered me around to some benches behind the tavern. I sat down next to him, but didn't take my face out of my hands.  
  
"Ah. See, next time you should just pick it up and leave. Much more effective, because you can't just fix that straight away with magic."  
  
He shut up about the butterbeer when he noticed that I was crying.   
  
"Whoa. Granger? Are you alright?"  
  
I took my hands away from my tear-stained face to glare at him.  
  
"Yes. I'm fine. I often just sit places and cry when I'm absolutely fine" I said, sarcastically.  
  
He frowned at me, and I buried my face again. It was only a few minutes later that I spoke again.  
  
"I should have known he w-w-was going to have a f-fit."  
  
Malfoy rubbed my back.  
  
"I could have told you he was going to."  
  
"You said he c-couldn't p-p-possibly react worse than P-Pansy."  
  
"True. But then, I don't know Weasley very well."  
  
I wiped my eyes, slowly, even though the tears were still falling.   
  
"What do I d-do now? All my friends h-h-hate me."  
  
He stood up and knelt down in front of me, allowing me to lean forward into his chest. He wrapped both arms around me and continued to rub my back in slow circles for a while.  
  
"I'm sure they don't hate you, Granger. They hate me, that's the problem."  
  
I pulled back and looked at him, my vision blurred by tears.  
  
"So, that's it? I can just never t-tell them?"  
  
"I suppose so. But, admit it, sneaking around does have its perks."  
  
I gave him a watery smile.  
  
"What? Like, detention?"  
  
He didn't smile. After a moment, it became clear that that wasn't the response he had been looking for.  
  
"Um. Forget I said that, I didn't mean-"  
  
"Look, Granger, if it's causing this much trouble then-"  
  
"No! I didn't mean that!"  
  
Malfoy gave an audible sigh of relief, and a smile spread across his face.  
  
"Oh, thank God. For a minute there I thought-"  
  
I cut him off, by kissing him. Admittedly, I must have got his face all wet with my tears, but he didn't seem to mind.  
  
---  
  
Malfoy and I soon parted ways. Nowhere in Hogsmeade was very private, and the possibility of Harry and Ron finding us somewhere and getting even more angry with me didn't hold much appeal.   
  
Wandering around Hogsmeade all alone wasn't much fun either, so I decided to just head back to Hogwarts and go to the library.   
  
I didn't even realise how long I had been reading until Ginny came in.  
  
"Hermione?"  
  
I looked up, but quickly looked back down at my book. I wasn't in the mood for another fight.  
  
"Hi."  
  
"Harry and Ron are down at dinner ... Ron's still really mad."  
  
"Good for him."  
  
There was a silence. I pretended to be reading my book, but my concentration was ruined. Ginny sighed.  
  
"I don't know whats up with him. I mean, Malfoy IS a git and all but he's being so protective about it."  
  
I looked back up at Ginny, and gave her a small smile.  
  
"Yeah. I guess that's one way of putting it."  
  
"Just don't worry about it. He'll get over it, eventually."  
  
"What about Harry?"   
  
"He reckons that Malfoy dug his own grave, and now should have to lie in it."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"I agree with him, really."  
  
I looked back down at my book, resignedly. I had expected as much, but hearing it stated so bluntly didn't make me feel any better.  
  
"Okay" I said. "I'll come down to dinner, later."  
  
Pretending once more to be engrossed in my book, I didn't look up again until Ginny was gone.   
  
---  
  
I never ended up going to dinner. I went straight from the library, with a borrowed book, up into my dormitory.   
  
I read until the early hours of the morning, but all the while my mind was on something else.  
  
Malfoy.   
  
My friends all hated him, and they had good reason too. I had good reason to hate him, too, but I didn't. I really, really didn't. I didn't know how I felt about him, really. I knew that I had started to like him, in a more-than-friends kind of way, but I didn't know whether the feeling was mutual, or whether I was just wasting my time. Did I trust him?  
  
On a different note, my dreams had stopped. Did that mean the danger had passed? Why had I had the dreams in the first place?  
  
Questions swum around my head all night, and I slept badly. The worst part was that, even when I awoke late the next morning, I was no closer to answering any of them.  
  
It was about eleven by the time I made my way down to the common room. I hadn't really slept for more than one hour at a time, and the night had been long. It had been at least dawn by the time I fell asleep properly.   
  
When I finally got to the Great Hall for breakfast, Harry and Ron weren't there. Ginny was sitting with some friends in her own year, so I sat alone and ate in silence. I didn't really mind, and was quite happy to read the Daily Prophet while I ate my porridge.   
  
About halfway through my meal, I heard laughter behind me. I turned around, to see Pansy Parkinson pointing at me.  
  
"Oh, this is priceless. The Mudblood's only friend is the NEWSPAPER!"  
  
Her shrill voice was laced with malice, and most of the Slytherin table was laughing. I tried to catch Malfoy's eye, but he was busy glaring at Pansy.  
  
"I'd rather have a newspaper for a friend, than a brainless git for a boyfriend." I said, sweetly.   
  
Pansy's lip curled, and I realised, too late, that Goyle had heard me. He stood up and started walking towards me. I made to get my wand out, and Pansy grabbed the back of my robes and pulled me backwards off the chair onto the floor.   
  
Trying to ignore my smarting back, I pointed my wand up at Pansy, glaring. I didn't notice how close Goyle was until he was right over me, raising his fist to punch me in the face. I covered my face with my free hand, and closed my eyes.  
  
Many things happened at once.  
  
I heard Malfoy yelling out a jinx, and opened my eyes in time to see Goyle fly about four feet in the air and land clumsily in my porridge. At the same time, McGonagall stormed over to break up the fight.  
  
"The four of you! In my office, NOW!" She yelled.  
  
As I stood up, I saw the whole of the Slytherin table eying Malfoy suspiciously. He looked livid. Whether he was angry at himself, Pansy and Goyle, or me, I didn't know.  
  
---  
  
"Well?" McGonagall yelled. "I'm waiting for an explanation, and it had better be good!"  
  
Goyle pointed a meaty finger at me.  
  
"She called me a brainless git!"  
  
I glared at him.  
  
"I only called you that because your girlfriend called me a mudblood!"  
  
The silence was deafening. Professor McGonagall turned to Pansy.  
  
"Is this true, Miss Parkinson?"  
  
Pansy shook her head so fast that her hair whipped around and narrowly missed hitting me in the face.   
  
"She's lying, Professor!"  
  
Malfoy, who had been silently fuming for the whole exchange, rolled his eyes.  
  
"Parkinson, the whole hall heard you." He said, flatly.  
  
McGonagall looked at him for a moment, her thin lips parted in surprise. It was obvious that she had thought Malfoy's spell was aimed at me, and that hitting Goyle had been a mistake. She hadn't been expecting Malfoy to be on my side.  
  
"You heard her say this, Mr Malfoy?"  
  
He nodded.  
  
"And did you hear Miss Granger call Mr Goyle a-"  
  
"Brainless git? Yes, I heard that, too."  
  
"Did you direct a harmful spell at Mr Goyle?"  
  
"Yes. He was going to punch-"  
  
"I have heard enough. The four of you, detention tomorrow afternoon. Meet here straight after class. Now, go."  
  
We all nodded, silently, and shuffled out.  
  
"Draco, what is your PROBLEM?" Pansy screeched, as soon as we were out of McGonagall's earshot.  
  
Malfoy just glared at her, and stalked off. 


	26. Chapter TwentySix

Authors Note: Love the Lovely reviews!! =D thank you, all   
  
---  
  
It wasn't until lunch that I saw Harry and Ron. From their sweaty attire, I could tell that they'd had quidditch practice. I sat on Harry's other side, and felt a sting as he automatically turned away from me.  
  
I ate in silence, while the two spoke in undertones about ... whatever it was they were talking about. I felt horribly alone. I tried once or twice to talk to Harry, but he ignored me. After a while, I left the hall and went up to the Room of Requirement.   
  
I did it up basically the same way Malfoy had, only my version of the room looked a little more like the Gryffindor common room. I picked a book off one of the shelves, and curled up with it on the armchair closest to the fire.  
  
About an hour later, Malfoy burst into the room. He obviously hadn't expected me to be there, and jumped about a foot in the air when he saw me.   
  
"God, Granger, don't scare me like that. How did you get down here so fast? I only just owled you."  
  
I stared at him.  
  
"I've been here for at least an hour already" I frowned. "Are you alright? You look kind of pale ..."  
  
He walked over to me, and shoved a letter in my hand. I opened it, carefully, and read it.  
  
Draco Malfoy,   
  
For disobeying an order from the Dark Lord,  
  
you owe the Rising your life.  
  
You will be collected.  
  
I read it quickly about three more times, as though multiple readings could change the horrifying message.  
  
"What ... How ... Who is it from?" I stuttered.  
  
"Look at the seal."  
  
I picked up the envelope, and stared at it. It was sealed with the dark mark, with a single, stylized W in the middle.   
  
"Wilder?"  
  
"Yep. I had hoped that the Ministry would have found him by now but," he ran a hand through his hair. "I don't even think they're looking for him."  
  
I stood up.  
  
"We need to take this to Dumbledore."  
  
Malfoy nodded.  
  
"I don't see what the old fool can do about it, though. They already have every type of protection on this place."  
  
"He's not an old fool, Malfoy."  
  
He rolled his eyes.  
  
"Fine. Let's just go and see him."  
  
---  
  
We went as fast as we could to Dumbledore's office, and stood in front of the entrance.   
  
We looked at each other.  
  
"Granger, you're the braniac, how do we get up to him?"  
  
I glared at him.  
  
"I don't know."  
  
We both paced around the entrance for a moment, before I heard a chillingly familiar voice behind me.  
  
"Mr Malfoy? Miss Granger ... what are you doing here?"  
  
I spun around, and was greeted with Snape's glare. He was looking at Malfoy as if to say 'why are you hanging around HER?' I cleared my throat.  
  
"We need to see Professor Dumbledore, sir." I said, my voice coming out sort of squeaky.  
  
"Professor Dumbledore?"  
  
His eyes swept between us, before fastening on me again.  
  
"Why?"  
  
Malfoy held up the letter from Wilder, and I watched as Snape's eyes darted across the words. When he was finished, he once again looked from me, to Malfoy, and back again.  
  
"Very well" he turned to the entrance. "Licorice Bootlaces."  
  
---  
  
After reading the letter, Dumbledore looked very concerned.  
  
"Mr Malfoy, it is very important that you try to remember. How was it that you were transported from your bed to your Manor?"  
  
"I don't remember. One minute I was asleep, the next I was at home."  
  
Dumbledore nodded, and then turned to me.  
  
"Do you know approximately what time you had your dream, Miss Granger?"  
  
"When I went down to the common room after my dream, Harry said it was about two in the morning."  
  
"What time did you go to bed, Mr Malfoy?"  
  
Malfoy raised his eyebrows.  
  
"Um. About midnight I think."  
  
"Midnight? Not closer to eleven thirty? Or one? It's rather important."  
  
Malfoy looked annoyed.  
  
"No. I'm pretty sure it was midnight" he said, unable to hide the annoyance in his voice.  
  
Dumbledore smiled, as though he hadn't heard Malfoy's tone.  
  
"Well, we as staff members will be doing all we can to protect you, Mr Malfoy. We will keep in touch." 


	27. Chapter TwentySeven

"What time do I go to bed? What kind of question is THAT?"  
  
Malfoy and I had returned to the Room of Requirement. I was under the impression that Dumbledore's reassurances had not made Malfoy feel safe at all. On the contrary, he was now desperately annoyed.  
  
"I think he was trying to figure out whether my dream was in real-time, Malfoy" I said, rolling my eyes.  
  
"So? What difference does it make if your DREAM was timed right? You're not having the bloody things anymore anyway."  
  
"I know ... I just think he was figuring out how long it took you to get from your room to your manor."  
  
Malfoy was storming around the room, while I sat on my usual chair closest to the fire. I was tempted to move, however, because Malfoy's anger was causing the fire to grow bigger and bigger with every passing minute.  
  
When the flames began to lick the outside of the fireplace, I glared at him.  
  
"Malfoy! Would you stop it with the fire?"  
  
He frowned at the fire, and it went out entirely. I stood up.  
  
"Look, I don't know what you're so angry about. Dumbledore said he was going to do his best."  
  
"Well what if his best isn't good enough? They got me easily enough last time! How do I know I'm not just going to get attacked in my sleep?"  
  
As much as I wanted to tell him he was being melodramatic, the icy feeling in the pit of my stomach was proof enough to know that he wasn't.   
  
The fire lit itself again.  
  
"You can't expect him to do any better than his best" I said, in a near whisper.  
  
Malfoy turned around and looked at me. His eyes were unreadable, and I held his gaze. After a moment, I broke the silence.  
  
"I, um, I forgot to thank you. For jinxing Goyle at breakfast."  
  
He looked away, and shook his head.  
  
"I didn't even think. I just did it. Now the whole of Slytherin is going to think I'm completely insane."  
  
"No. Did you see the look on McGonagall's face when you said Pansy called me a mudblood? She was so surprised you were on my side."  
  
"What? So she thought I ACCIDENTALLY jinxed Goyle? I knew Gryffindors are a bit-"  
  
"No! She thought you aimed at ME and Goyle got in the WAY. You were pretty far away, after all. You could just tell the Slytherins that you meant to hit me and missed."  
  
"But I ratted out Pansy remember?"  
  
"Just say ... that McGonagall was going to give us detention anyway, and you didn't want to make any more trouble?"  
  
Malfoy looked blankly at me, before his face broke out into a smile.  
  
"You see?" I said. "Being a 'braniac' has its perks."  
  
He raised an eyebrow at me, and I smiled.  
  
On impulse, I walked over, and planted a kiss on his lips. I could feel him smile against me, before he pushed my lips apart with his tongue and kissed me, back.  
  
I felt like we were melting together, as he carefully slid his hand up the back of my shirt and ran his fingers up and down my back. I found the back of his shirt, and did the same. His skin was warm, and I could feel him getting goosebumps as I ran my fingers around in circles.  
  
After a moment, I hit a sensitive spot on his side and he twitched. I pulled my mouth away and started laughing. I ran over the spot again, and he started to try and squirm away.  
  
"Are you ticklish, Draco?"  
  
His eyes widened.  
  
"You called me Draco."  
  
"Don't try and change the subject!" I laughed, and started to tickle him.  
  
He took his hand out from the back of my shirt, and started to tickle my ribs. I squirmed, trying to get away.  
  
"Stop it!"  
  
I tickled his ribs with my other hand, and he made a high pitched noise, which only made me laugh harder.  
  
We both stood there, in the middle of the room, laughing and squirming and tickling each other. Finally, he stopped laughing long enough to say;  
  
"Alright, Granger, you asked for it."  
  
He picked me up, clear off my feet, and swung me over his shoulder.  
  
"Put me down!" I cried, still laughing.  
  
"Oh, okay."  
  
"No!"  
  
He flipped me off his shoulder, and I landed on one of the lounges. His eyes glinted wickedly, and he leaned down and started tickling me again.  
  
"Stop ... it ... Malfoy!" I panted, through fits of laughing.  
  
I squirmed off the lounge, and landed heavily on my back.  
  
"Ow! Ow! Stop it! I'm serious!"  
  
He finally stopped, and sat down on the floor next to me, with his back against the bottom of the lounge. He was still grinning at me, and his hair was messed up and in his face.   
  
"Had enough, Granger?"  
  
I pushed my hair out of my eyes, sure that it must have looked bushier than ever.  
  
"Oh, for now. I assure you, there will be a rematch."  
  
Malfoy smiled, and blew on his fringe to get it out of his face.  
  
"Your back alright?"  
  
I sat up, slowly, and winced. I rested my back against the chair, next to Malfoy.  
  
"That's the second time I've fallen on it today. Damn Pansy Parkinson."  
  
"You can say that again. Detention with McGonagall? Lord. That's not gonna be good."  
  
"It can't be that bad. She's actually rather nice, once you get to-"  
  
"That's because you're a Gryffindor, Granger. Besides, I don't think a teacher could hate YOU if they tried."  
  
"Snape manages."  
  
"That's because you're a Gryffindor, Granger."  
  
I smiled.  
  
"And proud of it."  
  
---  
  
I stayed in the Room of Requirement, while Malfoy went down to dinner. I wasn't really hungry, and none too keen on sitting and being ignored by Harry and Ron again.   
  
I didn't really mind being alone for a while, and used the time to read some of the books on the huge shelves around me. I was on my third book, when a quick glance at the mantle clock told me that it was almost curfew.  
  
Sighing, I put my book down and headed for the door. I was just about to pull it open when it flew open and hit me in the face.   
  
As I fell, I pulled my wand out and pointed it at the door. To my surprise, it was Harry and Ron. I stood up, glaring, and made my way to push past them.  
  
"Wait" said Harry. "We came here looking for you."  
  
"Why?"" I asked, scathingly. "So I can help you with your homework?"  
  
Ron looked like he was about to say something, but Harry shot him a look.  
  
"No" he said. "'We need to talk. About ... Malfoy."  
  
I folded my arms and glared at him, waiting for him to start. Ron cleared his throat.  
  
"Hermione ..."  
  
"While we're on the subject, RON, why didn't you tell me you told Malfoy off for meeting me the other day?"  
  
Ron's ears started to turn red.  
  
"I see you two have been having a lovely little chat" he mumbled.  
  
I rolled my eyes.  
  
"I would appreciate it if you didn't talk about me behind my-"  
  
"But you just said you and Malfoy were talking about me!"  
  
"No! He just mentioned that, was all. God, Ron, do you have to be so-"  
  
"Hey!" Harry cried. "Stop it! I'm sick to death of you two fighting all the time! Can we just settle this?"  
  
Ron grumbled something unsavory under his breath, but I pretended I didn't hear him.   
  
"Hermione? Look, Malfoy is a git, we all know that, and why you want to hang around him is beyond me" Harry paused, and shook his head. "But I guess there isn't really anything me and Ron can do about it, is there?"  
  
"No, there isn't" I said, flatly.   
  
He sighed.  
  
"Fine, then. How about we just never mention it again, okay?"  
  
I looked at him, incredulously. In all honesty, I couldn't see any way of not mentioning it again. On the other hand, I really did want to be friends with Harry and Ron again.  
  
"Okay. We never speak of it again. Deal?"  
  
"Deal" Harry said, and nudged Ron.  
  
"Deal" Ron muttered. 


	28. Chapter TwentyEight

Authors Note: Argh! Sorry it took so long! I've just gone back to school, and everything is MAD ; I won't be able to update as regularly as I did before, but hopefully I won't have to leave it so long next time =X  
  
---  
  
By the next morning, the three of us acted as though nothing had happened. Ron was still a little on the moody side, but that was nothing new.  
  
I scanned the headlines of the Prophet, searching for any mention of Wilder's name, and had mixed feelings when I didn't find it.   
  
For one, that meant that he was still in hiding and had not been found, but on the other hand, it meant he hadn't done anything major yet. I sighed and put the paper away.   
  
First lesson that day was Care of Magical Creatures. It was my first lesson with both Hagrid and Malfoy at the same time since Malfoy had been in the hospital wing, and I was feeling a bit jumpy.  
  
"Mornin' class!" Hagrid bellowed, a huge smile on his face.  
  
I cringed. Judging by Hagrid's good mood, he probably had some kind of horrifically dangerous creature waiting for today's lesson.  
  
"This way!"  
  
My worst fears confirmed, Hagrid began to lead us into the Forbidden Forest.  
  
I hurried over to catch up with him.  
  
"Hagrid? Where are we going?"  
  
"Now, now 'Ermione. If I told yeh tha' it'd ruin the surprise!"  
  
I looked pleadingly at him, but he just grinned under his bushy beard and said nothing.  
  
We finally stopped walking when we reached a clearing. I tried not to glance over to Malfoy, who was surrounded once more by snickering Slytherins.   
  
"Alrigh' class. Today we gunna be learnin' 'bout Griffins."  
  
My heart did a horrible lurch.   
  
"Now, Griffins are pretty dangerous animals, so yer gunna have to be careful, bu' we got one sleepin' jest behin' those bushes o'er there."  
  
He pointed a gigantic finger to one corner of the clearing, and I wondered if he noticed that everybody moved instinctively away from it.   
  
"Uh, Hagrid?" Ron asked, tentatively. "How do you know it's still asleep?"  
  
I suddenly noticed that two bright gold eyes could be seen peering out from under some shrubs just nearby, and I gasped.   
  
"H-Hagrid!"  
  
The Griffin launched itself at Hagrid, claws and beak first. A scream escaped me, and I took a few reflexive steps backwards. I felt a hand behind me steady me as I almost tripped over a root, but I wasn't paying attention.   
  
Hagrid was batting at the Griffin's claws, trying to hold it at arms length away from his face. He was getting horribly scratched.  
  
By instinct, I pulled out my wand, pointed it at the creature, and yelled a stunning spell at the top of my lungs.   
  
The Griffin turned to me, and glared at me with it's huge gold eyes before it fell to the ground.  
  
Hagrid wiped his brow, and I noticed that his hand was shaking.  
  
"W-well. Thank yeh, 'Ermione. Uh, ten points fer Gryffindor. That ... that should 'bout do it fer today."  
  
It was obvious that Hagrid was trying to ignore the barely concealed laughter of the Slytherins. I could sense Harry and Ron were tensing up with anger, and hoped that Malfoy wasn't laughing.   
  
"Uh, yeh, well, fer homework I'd like yeh all to find out as much as yeh can 'bout the Griffin, in, uh, preparation for next lesson, like."  
  
"What? So that wasn't the lesson on Griffins? What was it, then?"  
  
I closed my eyes, and counted to ten under my breath. It was Malfoy who had spoken. When I opened my eyes again, I could see that Hagrid was flushing slightly.  
  
"That was just a, um, a test. To show yeh how dangerous Griffins are. Shouldn't be handled unless yeh know what yeh doin'."  
  
Malfoy laughed. It was not the good-natured laugh that I had been growing quite fond of, it was a malicious laugh. A cold laugh.  
  
"Does that mean you don't? Know what you're doing, I mean."  
  
Hagrid glared at Malfoy, and then at the whole class.  
  
"I gave yeh the rest of the period off! What are yeh standin' 'round 'ere fer?"   
  
The class all hurriedly picked up their books, and power-walked out of the forest, casting worried looks at Hagrid over their shoulders.  
  
As Malfoy brushed past me, I glared at him. He raised a single pale eyebrow, but said nothing.  
  
---  
  
Harry, Ron and I had stayed back to try and help Hagrid out, but he would have none of it. He insisted that his giving us the rest of the class off was a special treat.  
  
The three of us trudged back up to the castle, and I noticed that Ron was carefully avoiding my eyes. Harry hadn't been as obvious, but I could tell that neither of them were happy with Malfoy and his cruel comments to Hagrid. Any other time, they would have been ranting about his horribleness, but they kept silent about it.  
  
We were going to spend the rest of the period in the common room with the other 6th year Gryffindors. Harry and Ron played wizards chess, and after a while I grew bored with watching them and went up to the library.  
  
On the way, I heard a familiar sneering voice behind me.  
  
"Granger?"  
  
I didn't turn around, and pretended I hadn't heard him. I still couldn't believe how cruel he'd been to Hagrid.  
  
"Granger?" Malfoy said again, and hurried up beside me. I glared at him.  
  
"What?" He said, angrily. "What did I do now?"  
  
"What did you do?! You said Hagrid didn't know what he was doing! You made fun of him in front of the whole class! You-"  
  
"Oh, for God's sake. You know it's all true, Granger. He's a hopeless case. He got attacked by the thing he was trying to-"  
  
"I don't care! I hate the way you have to insult him all the time!"  
  
"Insulting or not, you know it's true! All of it! Hagrid is a buffoon who-"  
  
"HE IS NOT A BUFFOON!" I yelled, making him jump.  
  
Malfoy ran a hand angrily through his hair, and glared at me.   
  
"I know you and Potter and the Weasel think you have some kind of loyalty to that OAF but even you three are going to admit SOMEDAY that he's the most PATHETIC teacher at Hogwarts!"  
  
I was so angry that I was shaking. It took every ounce of my self-control not to jinx him into next week.   
  
"Maybe you just think he's hopeless because you never give him a chance!"  
  
"I gave him a chance today, and look how well that turned out!"  
  
"YOU DID NOT!"  
  
"I did! I didn't say a single word until the bloody moron got himself attacked by his own class material!"  
  
"And that's SO different from you getting mauled by Buckbeak after Hagrid SPECIFICALLY SAID-"  
  
"Stop changing the subject you infuriating mud-"  
  
He stopped himself, but only just in time. I could feel my eyes bugging out of my head, but I didn't care. When I spoke, my voice came out dangerously low.  
  
"What did you just call me?"  
  
A faint flush was rising on Malfoy's face, and he took a step away from me.  
  
"Look, I-"  
  
"You PROMISED me that you'd never call me that again."  
  
"I know. It just slipped out, Granger, I'm-"  
  
"Slipped out. Right. Well, you know what? I might just let a little thing of my own slip out, Malfoy. I am sick of you being nasty to my friends, calling me a mudblood even when you promise you won't-"  
  
"So, what then? If you're sick of those things, you're sick of ME."  
  
My glare deepened.  
  
"Right. Maybe I am" I said, softly, and pushed past him into the corridor.  
  
He didn't follow me. 


	29. Chapter TwentyNine

ARGH I'm so awful ... Sorry so much about the lack of updates !!!  
  
---  
  
By the time I got back up to the common room, it was almost time for second period. I didn't talk to Harry and Ron much, and so they returned the favour. By the end of the day, my fury at Malfoy had still not subsided.  
  
He had basically called Hagrid an incompetent oaf in front of the entire class, and then topped it off by calling me a mudblood. After he PROMISED he would never, ever, call me that again. Every time I thought about it I could feel my blood boiling.  
  
By the end of the day, my dread for my detention with McGonagall was such that I was even tempted to make some excuses to try and get out of it. My good record had to be good for something.  
  
In the end, however, I didn't try and escape the detention. I knew I deserved it, and would probably only cause more trouble for myself if I tried to get out of it. Still, that didn't make me think I would enjoy it.  
  
"Professor?"  
  
"Ah. Miss Granger. You're early. Please, take a seat. The others will be here shortly."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
I took my seat opposite McGonagall, and tried not to meet her eye. I knew that she would have many questions to ask about what had happened, a Slytherin defending a Gryffindor in any way was unheard of. I didn't feel like answering questions, for once.  
  
It wasn't long until the other three shuffled in together. They took seats beside me, and also avoided the Professor's eyes. Finally, she cleared her throat.  
  
"Well, you four. Before I give you your task for this evening, I would like to know exactly what happened. Such behavior is in no way tolerated in this school, and I mean to make that very clear, despite the rather, shall I say, 'unique' situation."  
  
I swallowed. I doubted very much that Goyle and Pansy had missed the pointed look McGonagall had given Malfoy and I.  
  
"We told you!" Pansy cried, shrilly, pointing dramatically at me. "She called Gregory a brainless git!"  
  
"Only because you called me a mudblood!" I snapped, and McGonagall rolled her eyes.  
  
"Well, as you two seem incapable of telling a consistent story, Mr Goyle, Mr Malfoy? Do you have anything to contribute?"  
  
"She called me a brainless-"  
  
"Anything other than what the girls have already said, Mr Goyle."  
  
McGonagall turned to Malfoy, and I cringed inwardly.  
  
"Mr Malfoy? Anything else to add?"  
  
Malfoy looked up from the desk, which he had been staring avidly at, and blinked up at the teacher.  
  
"No," he said, in his old sneering voice. "Nothing at all."  
  
His tone of voice had made my heart skip a beat, and not in a good way. It sounded cold and empty, even more emotionless and cruel than it had always sounded before, back when we had been enemies. Had I really made him that mad?  
  
"Well, then. I would like to make it very clear that if this sort of behavior continues, it shall only lead to suspension or expulsion. No, Miss Granger, I am not making idle threats."  
  
My head had snapped up, and I was staring in horror at Professor McGonagall.  
  
"But-"  
  
"No buts, Miss Granger. These inter-house rivalries have been going much too far of late, and as sixth years I would expect you to set a better example."  
  
I hung my head and stared at my shoes. I could feel a lump forming in my throat, and was putting all my energy into stopping myself from bursting into tears.  
  
"On another note, the four of you will be spending this lesson with Mr Filch, cleaning the trophies in the trophy room," she paused, rolling her eyes as Goyle grinned stupidly and pulled out his wand.  
  
"Without wands, Mr Goyle."  
  
---  
  
I had been foolishly hoping that the detention would go quietly. I could scrub one side of the trophy room, and the Slytherins could do the other. Having all grown up in wizarding families, they were nowhere near as fast as I was without magic.  
  
I was wrong. As soon as we entered the trophy room, Filch instructed Pansy and Goyle to do one wall of trophies, and send Malfoy and I to do the other. We had been working in silence for a while, before he finally spoke. His voice was low, so that the others couldn't hear him.  
  
"I'm guessing you still hate me then, Granger."  
  
I looked up at him. He was scrubbing one trophy so hard I was afraid he might split it in two, and he was avoiding meeting my eye. His voice was tight and angry, and I sighed heavily.  
  
"I don't HATE you, Malfoy, I just-"  
  
"Well, thats funny. Because you seemed pretty keen on telling me what a pathetic git I am earlier this morning."  
  
He wasn't looking at me, instead focusing on the trophy he was cleaning. I wanted to tell him that now was not the time to have a huge argument, but I knew he wouldn't listen to me.  
  
"I never said you were a pathetic git, and while we're on the subject of earlier this morning, I seem to remember you calling me a-"  
  
"I said I was sorry, alright? It just slipped out. What else do you want me to say?"  
  
He had stopped scrubbing the trophy, and was now glaring at me with his seemingly endless gray eyes. I looked away to speak.  
  
"I don't know. I just-"  
  
I jumped as Malfoy dropped the trophy on the floor with a crash. He looked down at it, as though he had forgotten he'd been holding it. Filch's head snapped up, and I saw Malfoy's entire body tense up. He bent down and slowly picked the trophy up, holding it up to show that it hadn't been broken. Filch snarled at him, but said nothing.  
  
"Listen, I don't HATE you, for Gods sake. I just hate the way that things like that can still ... slip out," I hissed at Malfoy.  
  
This was greeted with silence and, after a while, I wondered if he had even heard me. When he finally spoke to me, his voice was low and he didn't look at me.  
  
"Like I said before, 'Mione, you hate that stuff you hate me, too. Thats just ... the way I am," he looked up at me, briefly. "I'm not going to change."  
  
With that, he walked over to a different trophy cabinet and set to work. I stared blankly at his retreating form, and found myself unable to say anything. 


	30. Chapter Thirty

Authors Note: ARGH yes I know, I'm a horrible author for taking so long to update !! I'm so sorry =X  
  
I fled from the detention as soon as it was over. Malfoy and I had not spoken at all in the two hours we were in the same room together, and my emotions were all over the place. By the time I got to my dorm, I was more than happy to just collapse on my bed fully clothed and fall straight to sleep.  
  
I soon found myself opening my eyes again, and was horrified to find that I was back in the corridor once again, looking through the crack in the door. I had thought my nightmares were over. Apparently not.  
  
Gingerly, I pressed my eye against the crack in the door. Inside the room were about a dozen figures all hooded and cloaked, I couldn't identify any of them. I could hear hushed voices, but couldn't make out what they were saying. Finally, one voice raised above the others.  
  
"There is a girl. We can use this to our advantage."  
  
I shivered when I recognized the voice. It was Wilder.  
  
"A girl? His age?" I didn't recognize that voice.  
  
"Yes. She told the Ministry where to find him, last time."  
  
I felt as though somebody was slowly pouring cold water down my spine. Were they talking about ME?  
  
"How did she know?" Another voice I didn't know.  
  
"Apparently she had a vision in her sleep," Wilder growled.  
  
My stomach lurched. They WERE talking about me.  
  
"So ... can you do it?"  
  
"Pettigrew can sneak into the grounds and take a hair or a fingernail belonging to this girl. Then a simple polyjuice potion and he'll follow us wherever we take him."  
  
I felt like I was going to be sick. Wilder was going to use a polyjuice potion to impersonate me, to get Malfoy to follow him. Was that how he had gotten in the first time? Peter Pettigrew could easily slip in unnoticed, after all, and take somebody's fallen hair or fingernail ...  
  
My thoughts were interrupted when Wilder shed his hood. He looked around the room a couple of times, and I could have sworn his eyes settled on me. He glared for a moment, and I held my breath. Soon, he looked away, and then the death eaters filed out of the room.  
  
That morning, I felt I could barely open my eyes. I had been tossing and turning all night, unable to come to a conclusion about what to do with the information my dream had given me. Malfoy was mad at me, so going to him didn't hold much appeal. He'd probably get even more mad at me if I told Dumbledore or somebody before I told him. I was at a loss.  
  
Worst of all, the first lesson that morning was potions. I wasn't sure if Malfoy was expected to sit with me again, and had no idea what I was supposed to do if he did.  
  
I barely touched my breakfast, even though I knew I needed it. I wasn't hungry. All I wanted was to go back up to my dorm, curl up under the covers, and sleep for a week.  
  
As I walked into the potions dungeon with Harry and Ron, my stomach did a flip-flop at the sight of Malfoy sitting in the seat next to where I usually sat. I paused, wondering what would happen if I just sat in somebody else's seat for one lesson.  
  
"Take your seat next to Mr Malfoy, Granger, he won't bite," Snape sneered at me.  
  
I felt my cheeks redden as the Slytherin side of the room started laughing. The Gryffindors all gave me sympathetic looks as I took my seat next to Malfoy. He didn't look at me, or in any way acknowledge that I was there.  
  
The first ten minutes of the lesson were fine, Snape wrote up the ingredients for the potion we were making, and lectured us on safety procedures. We were going to make a fairly complicated potion commonly used to treat dragon bites. Unfortunately, a few simple ingredients out of place could mean that the potion would cause the patient to suffer from severe twitching of the treated limb for up to six hours. I felt a surge of pity for Neville, who flinched visibly upon hearing this.  
  
Finally, Snape signaled for us to begin. I stood up to collect the ingredients, and ignored Malfoy. We worked in silence for most of the lesson, until I noticed he was about to add the wrong ingredient.  
  
"Stop!"  
  
"What?" He looked irritably at me, his hand hovering above the cauldron.  
  
"You're supposed to add the grass shoots AFTER the frogs blood," I said, and pointed at the vial of blood next to his elbow.  
  
He rolled his eyes at me, but did what I asked. We worked silently for a few minutes until he was ready to add the next ingredient. With his hand hovering above the cauldron once again, he looked at me and quirked an eyebrow.  
  
"Can I add the roots now, your majesty?"  
  
I looked up, and meant to glare at him. Somehow, however, the look on his face made me smile. He had one pale eyebrow up and was sporting his playful smirk. His hair was sticking up a little, and I guessed he must have just run his hand through it. I tried to hide my smile, and looked away quickly. I had every reason to be absolutely furious with him, how could I even think about smiling at him?  
  
"Yep. That's right. Then the-"  
  
"Powdered salamander scales. I know."  
  
"Right." I said, quietly.  
  
Making the potion was reminding me horribly of the time that Harry, Ron and I had made a polyjuice potion in our second year. Polyjuice potion. I had a few vivid flashbacks to my dream of the night before, and after a while decided it was probably best to tell Malfoy about it after all.  
  
"Malfoy?"  
  
He looked up, and I instinctively looked away from him.  
  
"Yeah?" I was surprised how gentle his voice sounded. I swallowed.  
  
"I had another-"  
  
"Miss Granger!"  
  
I jumped. I hadn't noticed that Snape was standing right behind me, and from the look on Malfoy's face I could tell he hadn't either.  
  
"Yes, Professor?"  
  
"This is not the class for social chit-chat. Five points from Gryffindor, and don't make me double it."  
  
I stared at him in horror. Malfoy had been talking, too, and he knew it. I knew Snape was unreasonable but that was ridiculous.  
  
"Sorry, Professor," I said, coldly, and Snape sneered at me.  
  
Fearing that I would lose more points for Gryffindor, I didn't speak for the rest of the lesson. Malfoy seemed to accept this, and just before the end of the class he slipped a note into my robe pocket. 


	31. Chapter ThirtyOne

A/N: Okay. So basically, due to a combination of exams and computer troubles, I haven't been able to update in a really REALLY long time. I know I'm a pathetic sod, and I'm SO sorry about this ... but I'm going to be updating often once again. I'm reaching the end of the story, and with regular updates it should be finished soon.  
  
---  
  
At break, I went up to the library to read Malfoy's note. I had barely pulled it out of my pocket when I heard Professor McGonagall say my name behind me.  
  
I whirled around, and stuffed the note hurriedly back into my pocket.  
  
"Yes, Professor?"  
  
McGonagall gave me a grave look, and told me to follow her. One look at her face told me that it was serious, so I followed without question.  
  
---  
  
Before I realised it, we were in Dumbledore's office. He was eying me expressionlessly across his desk.  
  
"Have you had any more of your dreams lately, Miss Granger?"  
  
I swallowed. How did he know?  
  
"Yes. I had one last night. I tried to tell Malfoy about it in potions but-"  
  
"What was in this dream of yours?"  
  
At that moment, Snape stormed into the office. He was thin lipped and angry looking. I swallowed, trying to make my voice sound controlled.  
  
"I ... I heard about a plan that Wilder has to get to Malfoy."  
  
Dumbledore moved forward slightly in interest, and I continued.  
  
"He's going to send Peter Pettigrew into the school, as a rat, to take one of my hairs or fingernails ... then make a polyjuice potion with it."  
  
"A polyjuice potion?" Dumbledore prompted me.  
  
"Yes. Then he wants to try and make Malfoy follow him out of the school."  
  
"Why would Mr Malfoy follow YOU out of the school, Miss Granger?" Snape asked, sneering.  
  
I felt my cheeks heat up.  
  
"I don't know. Maybe they just assumed that, because I was having the dreams and helped find him last time, I must-"  
  
"The most important question, Miss Granger," Dumbledore interrupted. "Is, would he follow you?"  
  
I looked at the floor. Would he follow me? Surely he would know I wouldn't try and force him to do anything against the school rules.  
  
"I ... I really don't know, Professor."  
  
A silence rang out in the office, making me feel intensely uncomfortable.  
  
"How did you know that I'd had another dream?" I asked, to break the silence.  
  
Dumbledore's face turned sad, and he took off his glasses and placed them on the desk.  
  
"I didn't know you had had another dream, Miss Granger, I merely hoped that you had. You see, despite our best efforts, Mr Malfoy appears to have gone missing once again."  
  
---  
  
I couldn't hear anything. Only the rushing of my own blood in my ears. I had known, I could have warned everybody. But I hadn't.  
  
And now Malfoy was missing again.  
  
He could be dead by now.  
  
And it was all my fault.  
  
I could hear Dumbledore saying something, although it sounded like he was miles away from me. His voice was muffled and distant. I could vaguely feel somebody taking my elbow, trying to steer me out of the room, but I couldn't move my own feet. I was rooted to the spot.  
  
The hand on my elbow was tugging harder now, but I still wasn't moving. I wanted to move my head to face the owner of the hand, to tell them to let go, but I couldn't.  
  
It was all my fault ... 


	32. Chapter ThirtyTwo

A/N: Thankyou all my wonderful reviewers ! I was afraid that I would have lost you after my horrible lack of updates :X Eniyou, you're right haha Hermione does faint alot ... actually lots of people faint in this story, now that you mention it. Ah well xD  
  
---  
  
I didn't feel myself lose consciousness, but when the blood stopped rushing in my ears, and I regained control over my body, I was back in the same old corridor, peering through the crack in the door.  
  
I was looking into the outskirts of what appeared to be the forbidden forest. I only recognized parts of it, so I assumed it must have been on the other side of the grounds.  
  
(A/N: Okay, so the spells of protection on Hogwarts probably do (hell, definitely do) stretch out that far, but we are just going to ignore that ...)  
  
But it wasn't the forest that had captured my attention. I could see myself, or rather Peter Pettigrew morphed into myself, and Malfoy. The pair were headed, hand in hand, directly towards a knot of hooded and cloaked men, but Malfoy hadn't appeared to have noticed yet.  
  
I wanted so badly to be able to warn him, but remembered how opening the door had caused the dream to end last time I had tried. Instead, I shouted as loud as I could through the crack;  
  
"MALFOY!! DON'T GO THAT WAY!! TURN AROUND!! TURN BACK!! TURN BACK!!"  
  
---  
  
"TURN BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!"  
  
I jolted upright, and found that everybody in Dumbledore's office was staring at me. I felt a trickle of sweat make it's way down my jaw, and brushed it away irritably.  
  
"Dumbledore! I know where he is ... I saw him. There's dozens of them! We have to go and get him!"  
  
"Slow down, Miss Granger. You say you saw Mr Malfoy?"  
  
"You heard me! Theres ... there's death eaters. Dozens of them ... we have to hurry before they get him!"  
  
Dumbledore's usually smiling face suddenly turned more business-like, and he grabbed my shoulder and shook it lightly.  
  
"Where is he?"  
  
"The forbidden forest, I think. The other side, not the one near Hagrid's hut" I pulled away from Dumbledore, and stood up shakily, and struggled to control my voice. "He was nearly there. If we don't hurry, it's going to be too l-late."  
  
---  
  
So it was that five minutes later found us flying above the forbidden forest, on brooms.  
  
I was clinging to my broom, which I shared with Professor McGonagall, so tightly that my knuckles were turning white. I hated flying. However, the teachers needed me to show them the exact spot, in case the Death Eaters had somehow masked themselves.  
  
It started to rain.  
  
"There!" I called, hoping that I'd be heard above the wind and rain that was whipping in our faces. "Right below us! I CAN SEE THEM!"  
  
The broom dipped sharply, and I closed my eyes and held on. We made a swift descent, and I jumped off the broom as soon as we hit the ground.  
  
Directly in front of me stood about half a dozen dementors. The death eaters that were in my vision were now nowhere to be seen. I assumed they must have sensed us coming, and fled.  
  
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"  
  
I wheeled around to see half of the Hogwarts staff standing around me, all jumping off their brooms and yelling the same spell. I recognized it as the spell Harry had learned all those years ago to ward off dementors.  
  
It wasn't until the dementors began to part and hover away that I noticed a figure kneeling in the middle of them all.  
  
Malfoy.  
  
He looked directly at me, his eyes filled with a mix of fear and hurt, before collapsing down into the grass.  
  
Without thinking about the dementors that were still hovering nearby, I ran over to him. To my horror, he jerked away from me, and started to crawl feebly away.  
  
"You" he croaked, his voice barely a whisper. "You ... brought me ... you ... I ... trusted ..."  
  
He stared at me a moment more, his pale eyes indescribable, and then he fainted.  
  
---  
  
It was well after dark by the time Malfoy was safely bandaged and asleep in one of the hospital wing beds.  
  
I was sitting on the bed beside his, watching him sleep. I suppose that Madame Pomfrey must have realised how worried I was, because she didn't try and make me leave.  
  
His reaction to my running over to him had scared me. Did he honestly believe that I had lead him to the death eaters? He had said that he had trusted me. Was that why he had followed Pettigrew? Because he trusted me?  
  
Either way, I was sure he didn't trust me anymore. And how could he? The same stunt could easily be pulled again, with use of a simple polyjuice potion. Would they try again?  
  
Questions flooded my tired brain, and I absently lay down on the bed I was sitting on. It was extremely comfortable, and I was just drifting on the edge of sleep when ...  
  
"Hermione? Are you awake?"  
  
I opened one eye slowly, and saw a concerned Harry looking down at me. I stretched, and opened my other eye.  
  
"I am now" I said, softly.  
  
"Oh. Sorry. We ... we heard what happened."  
  
My stomach did a flip-flop. Last time Malfoy had been kidnapped, it had been reasonably hushed. Malfoy had simply told people he had had a 'minor' quidditch accident, and they had left it at that, no doubt assuming he was too proud to tell them how bad the accident had really been, and what had happened.  
  
This time, though ... half of the Hogwarts staff had flown into the distance halfway through the day looking for him. I guessed that kind of thing wouldn't take long to get around.  
  
"Um. Yeah. What did you hear, exactly?"  
  
Harry looked down at his feet, and didn't meet my eye.  
  
"Well ... Pansy Parkinson wasn't exactly quiet when they found out Malfoy was missing. She, um ... she kind of suggested that he was off with you somewhere, actually."  
  
My eyes widened, and instantly I wondered how many other people had heard this same story.  
  
"And?" I asked, my voice coming out low and angry.  
  
"And uh ... people kind of thought it was some kind of joke. Me and Ron went looking for you but we couldn't find you. Next thing we know, a whole lot of the teachers are flying off on brooms with you, into the forbidden forest. We kind of got the idea that something BIG was up ..."  
  
"You got that right."  
  
There was a silence. Harry met my eye after a moment, and I smiled weakly at him.  
  
"So what actually-"  
  
"I'm sorry, Harry. I'm really tired. I'll tell you two all about it tomorrow okay? I just ... I'm ... yeah. I'm really tired."  
  
"Okay."  
  
This was followed with another silence. I thought I had given Harry a sufficient hint that I wanted him to leave, but apparently not. I sighed.  
  
"Where's Ron?" I asked, hoping that he would take the hint and go and look for him.  
  
"Oh. Haven't you heard? He asked out with Lavender this afternoon. So I guess he's off somewhere with her. Didn't really want to go and look for him, if you know what I mean."  
  
I nodded, slowly. So Ron was going out with Lavender? I felt a pang. I had been missing, nobody knew where I was, and he had taken the opportunity to ... ask out Lavender? That didn't seem like a very best-friend like thing to do.  
  
Well, at least now I could honestly tell Malfoy that Ron didn't like me.  
  
"He asked her out before the whole ... the whole Malfoy thing" Harry said, quietly, as if reading my thoughts.  
  
"I figured" I replied, acting as though the thought had never crossed my mind.  
  
"Well, I'd better go. It's almost curfew. You coming? Or can you stay in here?"  
  
I glanced over at Malfoy's sleeping form. He was probably still upset with me, seeings how it appeared that I had lead him into the clutches of death eaters and dementors. It was probably best that I didn't stay, in case he woke up while I was asleep and freaked out or something.  
  
"I'd better go. Madame Pomfrey probably doesn't want me to stay here, anyway."  
  
Harry nodded, and we made our way in silence up to the Gryffindor common room.  
  
I tried to ignore the pointed looks I got all along the way, and shuddered to think what kind of story everybody had about the happenings of that afternoon. 


	33. Chapter ThirtyThree

I pulled the curtains around my four-poster bed, and undressed slowly. I felt too tired to do anything in a hurry, now that the adrenaline had worn off.  
  
As I was folding my robes, I felt something in one of the pockets.  
  
Malfoy's note.  
  
I pulled it out of the pocket, and unfolded it carefully. It was extremely winkled and scrunched up, and I was afraid of ripping it.  
  
Hermione,  
Meet me at the astronomy tower after dinner I really need to talk to you - DM  
  
The note crumpled again in my hands, and I laid down on my bed and cried.  
  
---  
  
When I first opened my eyes, I couldn't remember anything that had happened the day before.  
  
It was only when I moved my hand, and saw the note that was still clenched in my fist, that it all came rushing back to me.  
  
I glanced hurriedly at the clock. Classes had started hours ago.  
  
I sat bolt upright. Why hadn't anybody come to get me?!  
  
I was just grabbing my robes, when I saw another note sitting on top of them. It was from Dumbledore.  
  
Miss Granger,  
As three people tried to wake you up this morning unsuccessfully, we decided it best that you slept in. You are entitled to the day off, but you are allowed to go to your afternoon classes if you wish.  
- Albus Dumbledore  
  
Three people had tried to wake me up? I didn't remember a thing. I really must have been deeply asleep.  
  
Slowly, I dressed, and made my way down to the great hall.  
  
My timing was good, in that lunch was already under way when I entered the hall. My stomach rumbled, loudly, reminding me that I hadn't eaten since lunch the day before.  
  
I was just walking over to the Gryffindor table, when I noticed that a lot of people were staring at me. I felt my cheeks redden. I'd forgotten about the whole school knowing about what had happened. What had they been saying about me?  
  
I took a seat between Harry and Ron, and earned myself a dirty look from Lavender, who was sitting on Ron's other side. I forced a smile at her, but she just turned away.  
  
"Don't worry about her, Hermione" Harry whispered.  
  
"Hey 'Mione!" Ron said, around a mouthful of pie. "I thought you had the day off?"  
  
"I do. But I still need to eat sometime, Ron."  
  
"You going to classes this afternoon?"  
  
I looked around at the curious looks people were giving me, from all around the hall, and sighed.  
  
"I don't think so. I might just go to the library for a while."  
  
---  
  
I didn't go to the library.  
  
I probably should have, seeings how we only had mere months before our NEWTs, but instead I decided to visit Malfoy in the hospital wing.  
  
Madame Pomfrey allowed me in, provided I didn't make any loud noises that might disturb the other patients.  
  
"Malfoy?" I said, quietly.  
  
He looked at me, but didn't say anything before looking away again.  
  
"I just came in to see ... you know, how you were doing."  
  
"I'm just fine" he said, his voice cold.  
  
I sank down onto the bed next to him, and winced as he automatically turned away.  
  
"So ... did Dumbledore tell you what happened?"  
  
"He didn't need to, Granger, I was there."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"But yes, he did talk to me."  
  
An awkward silence spread between us, and Malfoy pointedly did not look my way. If Dumbledore had talked to him ... why was he still angry at me?  
  
"Miss Granger?"  
  
I turned around, and saw Madame Pomfrey looking at me with distaste.  
  
"Professor Dumbledore has requested your presence in his office."  
  
I blinked at her.  
  
"But I just need to-"  
  
"Miss Granger, I think it is quite obvious that Mr Malfoy does not want to speak with you anyway."  
  
I sighed. She was right, Malfoy really didn't seem to want to talk to me. I decided to just ask him before I left;  
  
"Malfoy ... if Dumbledore talked to you then why are you mad at me?"  
  
For the first time since my entrance into the hospital wing, Malfoy turned around and looked at me. His stare was cutting into me.  
  
"Because I know Hermione Granger, and I know that she would be in classes right now, rather than visiting me in the hospital wing."  
  
I stared at him. What was that supposed to mean?  
  
"I don't have to go to classes. Dumbledore gave me the rest of the day off."  
  
"That's not the point. Since when would you ever give up an opportunity to go to class?"  
  
"Since I-"  
  
I stopped myself. He was right. Since when?  
  
"See? Even you can't answer that."  
  
Madame Pomfrey began advancing towards me, and I started to babble.  
  
"I ... I wanted to come and see you. You wrote that you wanted to talk to me and then-"  
  
"I what?" Malfoy asked, his eyes widening slightly.  
  
"You wrote me a note. In potions. You said you needed to talk to me and-"  
  
"Granger?"  
  
"What?" I asked, irritably. Why was he acting so surprised about the letter?  
  
"Oh, God. It really is you. I thought ... I thought it might have been Pettigrew again."  
  
I sighed with relief. He wasn't mad at me! He was just afraid, and he had every right to be, that he was being tricked again.  
  
Before I knew what I was doing, I ran over to his bed and hugged him.  
  
"No. No ... its me. I'm so sorry, I tried to tell you in potions but-"  
  
"Shh" he whispered, patting my back awkwardly.  
  
It was plain to tell that he wasn't used to receiving random hugs, but I didn't care. I had no intention of letting go.  
  
I let my babbling subside, and shivered slightly as I felt him running his hand up and down my back.  
  
"Miss Granger? Release Mr Malfoy immediately!"  
  
Madame Pomfrey pulled me roughly away from Malfoy, and pushed me out the door.  
  
But not before he had time to call after me;  
  
"I still need to talk to you, Granger!" 


	34. Chapter ThirtyFour

"Professor? You wanted to see me?"  
  
"Ah. Yes. Do take a seat, Miss Granger."  
  
I sat down carefully on a plush armchair opposite Dumbledore. He smiled at me.  
  
"I trust you have visited Mr Malfoy in the hospital wing? I hear he is doing well."  
  
"Yes. Except that ..." I paused. How was I going to put this? "He seems kind of ... well, paranoid. I mean, he has every right to be but-"  
  
"Paranoid? How so?"  
  
I swallowed.  
  
"Well ... he was pretty much convinced that I was Pettigrew until I could prove that I wasn't."  
  
Dumbledore did a very strange thing, then. He reached under his desk and retrieved what appeared to be a shoe box.  
  
He placed the box on the desk between us, and I began to hear frantic scratching noises coming from within.  
  
"Do you know what is in this box, Miss Granger?"  
  
I shook my head, slowly, even though I already had a vague idea.  
  
Dumbledore carefully lifted the lid of the box, and pointed his wand directly at the creature inside.  
  
"PetrificusTotalus" he said, quietly, and the scratching stopped. He motioned for me to look in the box.  
  
I peered carefully over the edge, and let out a gasp.  
  
"Scabbers" I breathed. I looked back up and Dumbledore, my eyes wide. "How did you catch him?"  
  
"We didn't. Thinking that he wouldn't be recognized, he attempted to enter Hogwarts via Draco Malfoy's robe pocket. He was found by Madame Pomfrey late yesterday evening, and brought straight to me" he gave a half shrug.  
  
I stared, transfixed, at the petrified rat in the shoe box before me.  
  
"Does Harry know?" I asked, my voice sounding hoarse.  
  
"He will know, soon enough. I shall send for him as soon as he has finished with his afternoon classes. Seeings how you weren't in classes anyway, I thought you might want to know now."  
  
I nodded, slowly.  
  
"Do the ... the other death eaters know that he's here?"  
  
"We don't know. We can only hope that they don't realise until he is safely locked away."  
  
I nodded again, and made to stand up. Being in the same room with Pettigrew was making me feel increasingly uncomfortable.  
  
"I think I had better go ..."  
  
"Very well. But, Miss Granger? Please don't spread this information around. I would like it to be kept at least partially confidential."  
  
I opened my mouth, but he interrupted me.  
  
"Mr Potter and Mr Weasley will be told by me after their classes today, and I am going to speak to Mr Malfoy now. Nobody else needs to know. It is very important that you realise this."  
  
"Okay. What about the rest of the-"  
  
"Anybody that needs to know will be informed by me, or another member of staff."  
  
"Okay."  
  
With that, I took one last look at the motionless rat in the box, and left.  
  
---  
  
I didn't feel like facing the rest of the school that evening, so I didn't go to dinner. I instead stayed in the common room and read, to make up for the class time I had missed.  
  
"Hermione?"  
  
I looked up, to see Lavender Brown just about to sit across from me. I hadn't forgotten the evil look she had given me at lunch, but pretended as though I had.  
  
"Hey, Lavender."  
  
"I guess you've heard about me and Ron" she said, avoiding my eye and instead examining her nails.  
  
"Yep. Congratulations." I looked back down at my book, mentally willing her to go away.  
  
"I hope you didn't ... you know. Like him or anything."  
  
My head snapped up.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Oh, nothing" Lavender said, too quickly. "I just heard from somewhere that you kind of liked him."  
  
"Oh. Well, no. It's okay."  
  
"Good" she said, and smiled at me. "You know what? I've been hearing a lot of interesting things about you lately, Hermione Granger."  
  
I winced, and looked back down at my book to hide my reddening cheeks. I knew that Lavender was one of the most gossipy girls in Gryffindor, and I didn't want her to find out anything I didn't want getting spread around.  
  
"Come on. Stop hiding behind that book. I've heard some things that can't POSSIBLY be true ..."  
  
She tapered off, obviously hoping that I would ask her exactly what it was she had heard.  
  
"Well, you never know" I said, flatly, hoping she would get the hint and leave me alone.  
  
I was rescued, however, when Ron came in.  
  
"Hey, girls" he said, and came over to our table.  
  
Lavender went an amusing shade of pink, and stood up.  
  
"Want to go and study somewhere, Ron?"  
  
Ron just blinked at her, but then gave me an apologetic look and stood up too.  
  
"Sure. I'll catch you later, Hermione."  
  
I nodded, and watched the pair walk away.  
  
I had just gotten back into my book, when there was a tapping on the window next to my head. I looked up, and saw an owl trying to get in.  
  
The tapping had caused quite a few people to look my way, but I tried to ignore them as I carefully opened the window and let the owl in.  
  
It perched on top of the desk I was working at, and offered its note to me. As soon as I took it off, it flew back out the window and into the night.  
  
Granger,  
I've only just got bloody Pomfrey to let me send an owl.  
Stupid woman.  
Dumbledore came to see me, he said he'd already spoken to you I think I might be safe for the moment But bloody stupid bloody Pomfrey won't let me out of here for another week Come and visit once in a while - DM  
  
I stared at the letter for a moment. I hoped he wasn't giving Madame Pomfrey too hard of a time ... until I remembered her shoving me out of the room last time I had tried to visit. My sympathy vanished. If he wanted to give her a hard time, he could be my guest.  
  
Then, maybe, she'd allow him visitors to shut him up.  
  
Even as the thoughts formed, I knew I was being unfair. Maybe Madame Pomfrey had just been having a bad day? Maybe my throwing myself at Malfoy was a little over the top?  
  
Or ... maybe I was just picking up an attitude from hanging around a Malfoy too long.  
  
For some reason, this made me smile. 


	35. Chapter ThirtyFive

I did not sleep well that night.  
  
Not because I was having any nightmares, or anything like that. Just because, for the first time in my life, I was dreading returning to classes.  
  
My conversation with Lavender had given me some idea as to the kind of stories that were going around and, on the one hand, I should be thankful that it seemed people hadn't caught on to ... whatever it was between Malfoy and I.  
  
On the other hand, they certainly knew all about the weird things I'd been doing lately, and seemed to have come to their own conclusions.  
  
This was confirmed when I arrived at breakfast that morning.  
  
It wasn't as though the whole hall went silent and everybody stared at me, or anything, but I certainly got more than a few funny looks.  
  
I sat down opposite Harry, and noticed that he had dark circles under his eyes.  
  
"Did Dumbledore talk to you?" I asked, in a low voice.  
  
He nodded, but didn't say anything. He continued picking at his food, and avoided eye-contact with everybody.  
  
I felt a wave of pity for him. If we had caught Pettigrew just months before, Sirius could probably have been saved.  
  
We were too late.  
  
Ron entered the hall, hand in hand with Lavender, and took a seat next to Harry.  
  
"Quidditch match in two weeks, mate" he said, clapping him on the back. "Against Slytherin, of all people."  
  
Harry went, if possible, even paler than he had been before.  
  
"But don't worry. You're a million times better seeker than Malf-"  
  
He stopped himself, and quickly glanced at me. I rolled my eyes.  
  
"For God's sake Ron, everybody knows Harry's a better seeker than Malfoy will ever be."  
  
Harry looked up for the first time, and met my eye. I smiled weakly at him, and the corners of his mouth lifted, just a little.  
  
---  
  
By the time my last class, Care of Magical Creatures, finally finished, I had nearly reached breaking point.  
  
It appeared that, somehow, the story of my dreams had leaked out. The whole school was buzzing with talk of how I was dreaming about things that actually happened, but only when Malfoy was concerned.  
  
I had been told by eight people that it was a sign, and that I should make friends with Malfoy.  
  
I had been yelled at by another thirteen people, who insisted that I was 'fraternizing with the enemy' and that I had to just learn to block my dreams out.  
  
None of them seemed too interested in the information that I hadn't had any dreams, save for one, for many weeks.  
  
To top it all off, Ron still didn't know about Pettigrew. For some reason, Dumbledore hadn't got around to telling him yet, and he remained blissfully ignorant.  
  
Harry looked as frustrated as I felt by the end of the day. Due to the constant presence of Lavender, we hadn't had the opportunity to break the news to Ron, and he was nauseatingly cheery for the entire day.  
  
As soon as class let out, I practically fled up to the castle.  
  
I felt bad about leaving Harry behind, but I couldn't stand being in a class full of Slytherins and Gryffindors, both giving me dirty looks (the Slytherins even more than usual), for a minute longer.  
  
I wasn't even paying attention to where my feet were taking me until I was almost at the hospital wing. One look told me that, thankfully, there were no other patients and Malfoy had no other visitors.  
  
I stormed in and sat heavily on a chair next to Malfoy's bed. I tilted my head back to rest on the wall, and closed my eyes.  
  
"Get my owl?" I heard him ask, his voice tinted with amusement.  
  
"Yes" I said, and didn't open my eyes.  
  
"Well, don't look so happy to see me. You might burst something."  
  
I opened one eye, and regarded him with interest.  
  
"You always say that. Am I supposed to come running in giggling like a moron or something every time I see you?"  
  
Malfoy grinned, and I felt my heart skip a beat.  
  
"Sure. That'd work."  
  
I lifted my head up, and looked him in the eye.  
  
"So ... Dumbledore told you about Scabbers?"  
  
"Scabbers?"  
  
"Um. You know. The rat."  
  
I had forgotten that Malfoy wouldn't remember Scabbers as Ron's pet rat.  
  
"Oh. Yeah, he did. Don't know why he didn't tell me the other night though, I was-"  
  
He stopped. I had a feeling he was about to say he was scared, but didn't push him.  
  
"Maybe he wasn't sure yet. Probably didn't want to get your hopes up."  
  
"Well he could have told me, anyway."  
  
There was a pause, during which we just looked at each other. He wasn't anywhere near as banged up as he had been last time, and I was just wondering why it was he had to stay so long when he spoke, interrupting my thoughts.  
  
"He said you already knew what they were going to do."  
  
I winced.  
  
"Yeah ... I tried to tell you in potions but Snape told me off."  
  
"Oh. Right."  
  
"And then you wrote me a note ... saying you needed to talk to me" I paused. "Uh ... do you still need to talk to me?"  
  
"I am talking to you" said Malfoy, with a trademark smirk.  
  
I rolled my eyes, and his smirk melted into a grin.  
  
"But, you know, there are plenty of much more ... USEFUL things we could be doing ..." he said, and quirked an eyebrow.  
  
"Such as?" I asked, and moved a little closer to his bed.  
  
"Oh, I'm sure I could think of a thing or two."  
  
Our faces grew closer, and closer, until ...  
  
"Miss Granger!"  
  
I jumped about a foot in the air, and spun around to see Madame Pomfrey glaring at me. I opened my mouth to give some sort of explanation, but she interrupted.  
  
"This is the second time I've come in here to find you two-"  
  
"It's okay, I was just leaving" I muttered, irritably. 


	36. Chapter ThirtySix

It took another week for Malfoy to get out of the hospital wing.  
  
Whether it was out of spite on Madame Pomfrey's behalf, or genuine lack of health, I may never know.  
  
I visited him a few times, but Madame Pomfrey's constant presence wouldn't allow us to talk very much. Or do anything else, for that matter.  
  
Not that I'd been thinking about that, or anything.  
  
By the end of the week, less people were giving me looks. I suppose they just assumed I wasn't going to tell them, or anybody else, anything, so they gave up.  
  
It was a Saturday, and Harry and Ron were wolfing down their food in preparation for quidditch practice.  
  
I was sitting beside Lavender, who was still subtly trying to pump me for information about what had happened to Malfoy. I pretended to be very interested in my food, and only spoke when she asked me a direct question.  
  
"Well, we better get going, Ron" Harry said, standing up.  
  
"Oh. Okay, then" Ron gave Lavender a quick kiss on the cheek and waved to me before following Harry out of the hall.  
  
When they were halfway across the floor, Malfoy walked in.  
  
Even though I'd visited him just the day before, the sight of him still made my heart beat a little faster.  
  
He pushed Harry and Ron out of his way, roughly, and they turned around to glare at him as he walked past.  
  
It was then that they noticed the same thing that I was noticing.  
  
He wasn't walking towards the Slytherin table.  
  
He was walking straight to the Gryffindor table.  
  
More specifically, straight towards ME.  
  
I turned around to face him as he walked towards me. He wore his famous smirk, and ran his hand through his hair as he sat down sideways next to me. Lavender, who was sitting on my other side, elbowed me painfully in the ribs. I glanced at her, and she wiggled her eyebrows at me.  
  
"Listen, I really need that talk now" Malfoy said, quietly.  
  
"Very subtle, Malfoy. The entire hall is staring at you" I hissed.  
  
"Of course they are. I'm sure I'm rather nice to stare at."  
  
I rolled my eyes at him. He smirked again, and stood up, grabbing my arm. I let him pull me along. I didn't know what else to do.  
  
He pulled me out of the hall, and seemed to actually enjoy the strange looks everybody was giving us as we went past.  
  
He sneered at Harry and Ron as we passed them, and I gave them an apologetic look. All the same, they didn't look too forgiving.  
  
As soon as we left the hall, I pulled my arm away and glared at Malfoy.  
  
"What was that?!"  
  
"What was what, Granger?" he asked, and his face broke into a smile when he saw how annoyed I was.  
  
"You know what I'm talking about! It was bad enough with just Harry and Ron being mad at me because of this but now-"  
  
He cut me off, by placing a hand over my mouth.  
  
"You know what your problem is? You talk too much" he said, smirking.  
  
Without taking his hand off my mouth, he grabbed my arm again and pulled me into a classroom.  
  
When he took his hand away, I was just about to give him a peice of my mind when he pressed his lips on mine, silencing me. My anger seemed to vanish, and I sank into the kiss.  
  
Slowly, without breaking the kiss, he guided me towards one of the desks. He gently pushed me back against it, until my knees started to buckle, and I leaned back.  
  
Before I knew what was happening, he was climbing on top of me, pushing my back against the desk under his weight. One of his hands came crawling around the small of my back, and pulled me closer to him.  
  
When, finally, he came up to breathe, I opened my eyes and regarded him with interest. He noticed me looking at him and smirked, kissing me on the end of my nose.  
  
"There. I'm glad we had that little chat."  
  
I frowned.  
  
"That was ... you mean you didn't really need to talk to me?"  
  
"Well, I did before. But I would have thought we'd had plenty of time to talk in the hospital wing, Granger."  
  
"Oh" I said, not quite sure of what to make of that information.  
  
"Oh, indeed."  
  
I shifted my weight, uncomfortably.  
  
"Um. Malfoy? Can you do me a favor?"  
  
He narrowed his eyes at me.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Can you ... get off me? I can't breathe."  
  
---  
  
In an attempt to avoid the critical eyes of many of the students, I went straight up to the common room after breakfast, to work on my homework.  
  
I remained surprisingly un-interrupted until after lunch, when quidditch practice let out.  
  
I looked up from my ancient runes essay, and was greeted with the sight of Harry and Ron, both soaked with rain from head to toe and glaring at me.  
  
"Raining out, is it?" I asked.  
  
"What the hell was that this morning, with MALFOY?!" Ron yelled.  
  
"He came in and talked to me. What's the big deal?"  
  
"WHATS THE BIG DEAL?!" Ron's voice broke, and I winced. He was really angry.  
  
Harry took over from Ron, and stormed over to me.  
  
"Hermione, is there something you're not telling us?"  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"You heard him!" Ron cried. "Don't think we didn't notice you visiting Malfoy in the hospital wing, and now this!"  
  
I opened my mouth to retaliate, but Harry interrupted me, his voice eerily calm.  
  
"Think about it, Hermione, before you lie to us again. We're going to find out sooner or later."  
  
I carefully rolled up my essay, and put it to one side. Then I motioned for Harry and Ron to sit opposite me.  
  
"Okay" I said, willing my voice not to shake. "No more lies." 


	37. Chapter ThirtySeven

It was dinner-time by the time I'd finished explaining.  
  
Harry and Ron were staring at me, dumbfounded.  
  
"So ... can you see now? Why I couldn't tell you, I mean. It's all really complicated and I knew you-" I gave Ron a pointed look "-would get angry at me and-"  
  
"Well, you could have told us" Harry said, flatly.  
  
"I could have. I know. But everything happened pretty fast and-"  
  
"You ... you snogged Malfoy" Ron said, in a strained voice.  
  
I looked at him. He had gone slightly pale, and looked a little sick. I felt my cheeks turn pink.  
  
"If you want to put it that way then ... yes. I snogged Malfoy. It isn't really THAT big of a deal, Ron-"  
  
"Not that big of a deal? I can't believe you got your first kiss from MALFOY."  
  
My cheeks turned a shade redder.  
  
"No. I got my first kiss from Viktor, Ron" I corrected.  
  
"Oh."  
  
I noticed Ron's cheeks go a little pink, too, and decided it best to change the subject.  
  
"So ... are you guys okay with all of this?"  
  
Harry blew out a breath, sending his dark fringe fluttering.  
  
"Well, to tell the truth, no. But what can we do?"  
  
"Nothing" I said, bluntly.  
  
There was a pause. Ron rubbed his eyes.  
  
"So are you two, you know ... an item?" He asked, looking at the table.  
  
Now my cheeks were really red. I had been thinking about that a lot, and still didn't really know.  
  
"Um. Not really. I mean, it's kind of-"  
  
"Complicated" Harry supplied, giving me a wry smile. "You've mentioned that."  
  
I nodded, and chewed nervously on my bottom lip.  
  
"You guys should really go and get changed, you've been in those wet things for hours."  
  
They nodded, and stood up together.  
  
"Oh, and Ron?" I asked, and he turned around. "Please, don't tell Lavender any of this."  
  
Ron grinned.  
  
"Don't worry, she probably likes her own version better anyway."  
  
---  
  
The next morning, Harry and Ron were still looking at me a little funny, but apart from that they seemed fine. I think the thing that worried them the most was how I could keep so much from them for so long without them finding out the whole truth. That and the whole kissing Malfoy thing.  
  
At breakfast, I looked over more than once to see Malfoy staring at me. Every time I looked away quickly, and hoped that Harry and Ron wouldn't notice my face going a little pink.  
  
If they did notice, they thankfully didn't say anything about it.  
  
"Morning, Ron" Lavender said, cheerily, and took a seat opposite us. "Do you have quidditch again today?"  
  
"Yep" Ron replied, around a mouthful of toast. "Got a match next Wednesday."  
  
Lavender, ignoring the crumbs Ron sent showering over her, pouted at him.  
  
"Isn't there any way you can get out of it? I feel like I haven't seen you all weekend."  
  
Ron just looked at her like she was out of her mind.  
  
"We have a match in three days, Lavender, against SLYTHERIN."  
  
"So, what's that supposed to mean? Quidditch is more IMPORTANT than me?"  
  
I winced, readying myself for another of Ron's quidditch speeches. She'd really done it now. To be friends with Ron, you have to accept that quidditch is more important than anything.  
  
"No, I'm saying I can talk to you any time. We only get to play Slytherin once a year, and-"  
  
Before Ron could finish his sentence, Lavender pushed his glass of pumpkin juice into his lap, and stormed out.  
  
"What ... what ... what just happened?" Ron stuttered.  
  
I rolled my eyes, handing him a napkin.  
  
"You don't tell a girl you can talk to her 'any time', Ron."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
I rolled my eyes again, and chanced a quick glance in Malfoy's direction. He was looking at Ron, and laughing so hard it looked as though he might shoot his pumpkin juice out his nose any moment. I shot him a glare, but it only made him laugh harder.  
  
Ron stood up, still wiping himself off with the napkin.  
  
"I guess I better go get changed" he muttered, and stalked out of the hall.  
  
---  
  
Harry and I left the hall together, and it felt nice to be able to talk to him again without feeling guilty. I was actually in a pretty good mood, until I heard a familiar sneering voice behind us.  
  
"Don't you have quidditch to practice for, Potter?"  
  
We turned around, and I noticed Harry tense up.  
  
"Yeah, that's where I'm going."  
  
"Good. You need the practice."  
  
Harry tensed even more but, to my surprise, he didn't say anything. He glanced from me, to Malfoy, and back again.  
  
"I'll see you around, Hermione" he said, and walked off.  
  
I glared at Malfoy.  
  
"Nice going. I just spent hours last night trying to convince those two that you're not as horrible as they think, and then you just have to go and prove me wrong!"  
  
"Oh, so I really AM as horrible as they think?" He asked, with a smirk.  
  
"Well, to them you certainly are! Harry's a brilliant seeker!"  
  
Malfoy rolled his eyes.  
  
"Sure he is. I'll remind you you said that after the match on Wednesday."  
  
"I'm sure you will."  
  
He smirked at me again, and quirked an eyebrow.  
  
"So you finally told Potter and the Weasel about-"  
  
"Yes. Well, sort of. I left some bits out."  
  
I had figured Harry and Ron didn't need to know how many times Malfoy and I had ... kissed. Sufficed to say, I told them that we had. That was all they needed to know.  
  
"Oh? And, which bits would that be?" Malfoy asked, moving closer to me.  
  
I smiled, and took a step closer.  
  
"I think you might have some idea."  
  
"DRACO MALFOY!"  
  
We spun around, and found Pansy, Crabbe, Goyle, and a few other Slytherins I didn't know staring at us, open mouthed. We were only a few inches apart from each other, and Malfoy closed the distance by pulling me over to him and draping an arm over my shoulders.  
  
"Would you guys believe that Granger is actually a pure blood?" He said, with a smirk.  
  
My eyes widened. What? What was he talking about?  
  
"Wh-what?" Pansy spluttered.  
  
"She's a pure blood. Adopted. Didn't want anybody to know about it but, you know ..."  
  
Adopted? A pure blood? I looked up at him, but he carefully avoided my eyes.  
  
"She's a Gryffindor" Crabbe said, dumbly.  
  
"Yes, I know that, Crabbe, but-"  
  
"She's not a mudblood?" Pansy shrieked.  
  
"Apparently not" Malfoy replied, calmly.  
  
"But ... YOU can't go out with a GRYFFINDOR. And GRANGER? That's just ... disgusting" said one of the Slytherins I didn't know.  
  
I felt my cheeks heat up. Not out of embarrassment, but out of anger. Disgusting? This guy didn't even know me, and he was bad-mouthing me while I was standing right in front of him! How DARE he ...  
  
"Excuse me?" Malfoy asked, his voice low.  
  
"She's an insufferable know-it-all, pure or not" Pansy sneered.  
  
Malfoy's grip on my shoulders tightened. I wondered if this was out of anger, or to prevent me from running away.  
  
"Yeah" said the same Slytherin who'd spoken before. "Jesus, Draco. Out of all the girls in the school ... that's not normal. She's a bloody bookworm!"  
  
This time, Malfoy's tightening grip on my shoulders didn't stop me from getting away. I ducked out from under his arm, glared at the Slytherins, and stalked off.  
  
I waited until they were out of earshot before I started crying. 


	38. Chapter ThirtyEight

A/N: This ones a little short ... but I want to go to sleep haha and figured, since I'm guessing I'm in a different time-zone from some of you, I might as well give you guys something to read until I get back P  
  
---  
  
"Granger?" Malfoy came up behind me and spoke, quietly.  
  
"Go away" I sniffled.  
  
"No" he said, softly, and walked over in front of me. I tried to hide my tear-stained face.  
  
"They're right, though" I muttered, trying to control myself. "Everything th-they said was r-r-right."  
  
"Now, that's not true."  
  
"Yes it-t is!" I cried, giving up on trying to control my crying. "Y-y-you can't go out with a G-gryffindor. Least of all m-me. I'm just a b-b-bloody bookworm!"  
  
Malfoy put his arms around me and allowed my head to sink into his chest. He stroked my hair, gently. He waited until my sobbing had quietened.  
  
"Look, that was just Pansy and-"  
  
"No! You don't understand! They're all going to say that. You know they are" I lifted my head to look up at him. "Otherwise you wouldn't have told them I was a ... a pure blood. You know they're never going to accept me!"  
  
He didn't look me in the eye for a moment, instead he stared straight ahead. I wondered vaguely what he was looking at.  
  
When he looked down at me, he looked a little annoyed.  
  
"Okay, Granger. I know they're not going to like this. I've always known that. I was just trying to-"  
  
"I know" I said, quietly. "But theres a lot more things wrong with me than just blood."  
  
"Oh, come off it. There's nothing wrong with you."  
  
"Nothing wrong with me? Malfoy, that was not the first time somebody has called me an insufferable know-it-all, and you know it" I sighed, swallowing the lump that was forming in my throat. "Maybe we had better just ... forget the whole thing."  
  
"Excuse me?" Malfoy said, his voice low and angry.  
  
"I'm serious. Harry and Ron ... well, they said they were okay but they're not, really. And you heard them, back there! It's like you're fraternizing with the enemy or something-"  
  
"So what if I am? I can do whatever I want!"  
  
I hadn't expected him to yell at me, and pushed myself out of his arms.  
  
"You can't! So many people are going to be-"  
  
"So? Maybe I don't mind lying to them!" he jerked a thumb in the direction of where we'd just been, with the Slytherins. "And maybe your two little friends are just going to have to learn to deal!  
  
"But why? Why do you want to do something that's going to make so many people angry?" I demanded.  
  
He reached out and shook my shoulders, roughly, taking me by surprise.  
  
"Can't you see why? I've fallen for you! You stupid bloody MUDBLOOD!"  
  
He let go of my shoulders abruptly, turned around, and stalked off, shaking his head angrily as he went.  
  
I was left staring after him, while I felt my whole world turn upside down.  
  
---  
  
With nowhere else to go, and no homework to do, I ended up wandering over to the quidditch pitch, to watch Harry and Ron practice.  
  
As I sat, watching them, my mind wandered.  
  
The same thing kept playing through my head, over and over;  
  
'I've fallen for you! You stupid bloody MUDBLOOD!"  
  
I didn't really know what to do with that particular peice of information.  
  
He had fallen for me? How? When? Why hadn't he told me sooner? Why had he told me at all?  
  
And why did he have to call me ... that word? He'd PROMISED that he'd never call me that again. Ever.  
  
I was so lost in thought that I didn't even notice Harry fly over, until he called my name.  
  
"Hermione? Are you alright?"  
  
I looked up. No more lies, I had said. I sighed.  
  
"Not really. Had another run-in with Malfoy this morning."  
  
Harry looked concerned, and flew a little closer.  
  
"Oh? What happened?"  
  
"He ..." I stopped, changing my mind. "He tried to tell some of the Slytherins. They ... didn't react well."  
  
Harry opened his mouth, but I heard Ron call his name from the other end of the pitch.  
  
"Oi! Harry! Come on!"  
  
He looked at me apologetically, and I shrugged.  
  
"It's alright. I'll tell you more later." 


	39. Chapter ThirtyNine

When it started to rain, I decided to go back up to the castle.  
  
By the time I got inside, I was drenched, and the bottoms of my jeans were covered in mud.  
  
Sighing, I rolled them up, and started towards Gryffindor tower.  
  
I was only halfway there when I saw some of the Slytherins from earlier heading my way.  
  
As quickly as I could, I ducked behind the nearest statue, hoping that they wouldn't see me.  
  
"Oh, look at that. It's Malfoy's precious little Gryffindor!"  
  
Too late.  
  
I came out from begin the statue, and glared at them. I decided to walk haughtily past them, but only got about halfway there before one of them spoke again.  
  
"Don't know what he sees in YOU, of all people. Bloody know-it-all."  
  
I stiffened, but kept walking.  
  
"Exactly" agreed the other Slytherin. "I mean, the guy can get any Slytherin girl he wants, and he goes for Hermione Granger? It just don't add up, do it? You know what I think? I reckon she put a spell on him-" he abruptly stopped talking when I got out my wand and pointed it at him.  
  
"I'll put a spell on YOU, if you're not careful" I said, between my clenched teeth.  
  
"Ooooh" said the other Slytherin, taking out his wand. "Touchy, touchy."  
  
I lowered my wand.  
  
"But, you know what?" I said. "You're not worth it."  
  
With that, I pushed past them and stormed off.  
  
---  
  
By the time Harry and Ron returned from quidditch, I was up in my bed feigning sleep.  
  
I had told them I wouldn't tell any more lies, and I had every intention of keeping that promise.  
  
That didn't mean I couldn't stall.  
  
After hours of lying around, just reading and thinking to myself, I didn't need to feign sleep any more. My eyes fluttered closed, and I found myself in a familiar corridor ...  
  
---  
  
I blinked.  
  
I knew that my dreams were extremely irregular, but hadn't expected another one so soon. Malfoy didn't seem to be in any direct danger, and neither did I.  
  
Still, I pressed my eye to the crack in the door, and watched. It took a moment for my eyes to grow accustomed to the darkness, but I soon realised I was looking in to the Slytherin boys dormitories.  
  
"Granger? You've got to be kidding me."  
  
"Look, Blaise, I know how it looks. But just-"  
  
"She's a mudblood, a Gryffindor, and an annoying, bushy-haired know-it-all, Malfoy, and you know it."  
  
I glared into the crack. I was obviously witnessing a fight between Malfoy and one of his Slytherin friends. About me.  
  
"Yeah. I know it. But, listen, you gotta remember here that-"  
  
"If you know it, and I know it, and everybody else knows it, then whats the problem?" Blaise folded his arms. "There are hundreds of girls here, just go pick a new one."  
  
I cringed. He was talking as though I was an inanimate object, worthy of replacement.  
  
"What? No! I can't ... you don't get it."  
  
"Don't get what?"  
  
"She's ... I don't know. I know she's a mudblood, I know shes a Gryffindor, I know she's annoying, and bushy-haired, and everything! But I-"  
  
"Like her anyway?"  
  
"I don't know!" Malfoy turned around, disgustedly. "I'm not used to this crap."  
  
There was a silence, during which I took in the surroundings. Malfoy and Blaise were both sitting on their respective beds, in complete darkness. As near as I could tell, they were both dressed in boxers, and nothing more. I swallowed.  
  
Finally, Blaise spoke in a low voice.  
  
"Look, Draco, your dad is in Azkaban. Your mum is distraught. I can understand if you've gone a bit off the rails but-"  
  
"I have not" Malfoy spun around again, glaring. "Gone off the rails."  
  
Blaise held up his hands in an I-surrender gesture.  
  
"Hey, I never said you had. I'm just saying that your folks are in no right state to help you recognize what's right from wrong, and-"  
  
"I'm sixteen, I think I can look after myself."  
  
Sure, I thought, with a little help from me.  
  
"Well, whatever. But, you're not serious about this, are you?"  
  
"I am dead serious."  
  
Blaise shook his head.  
  
"She's the complete opposite of everything we-"  
  
"Look, it's not like I'm asking YOU to like her, okay? Get off my back."  
  
"You brought it up. I'm just giving you my honest opinion here" he blew out a breath. "Everybody thinks that. She's a nothing, why the hell are you wasting your time?"  
  
Malfoy clenched his fists by his sides.  
  
"I don't know, alright? I don't even know why we're having this stupid conversation" he rolled over, and climbed angrily under the covers.  
  
---  
  
The next morning, I was in a grumpy mood.  
  
I had hoped my dreams were over, and now it just felt like I was spying on Malfoy. Against my will, of course, but still spying.  
  
My mood did not improve when it became apparent that Ron and Lavender were still fighting, and yet they had taken the liberty to sit on either side of me.  
  
I sat, silently fuming, for some time until their bickering got the better of me, and I stood up and left.  
  
It was still fifteen minutes before class was due to start, but I stormed over to Hagrid's hut anyway.  
  
"'Ermione! Yer early!"  
  
"I know" I said, trying not to sound too angry.  
  
"A good thing, too" Hagrid whispered. "Ye wouldn't believe who else showed up early."  
  
He cocked his head to the left, and I looked over to see Malfoy standing with his back to us.  
  
"I was afrai' he migh' try an' mess me up a bit before you's all got here. Bu' he done nothin' but stand there" he shook his head. "Righ' unsettlin' that is."  
  
I nodded, but didn't take my eyes off Malfoy's back. As soon as Hagrid left to prepare his lesson, I walked over to the fence Malfoy was leaning against.  
  
"Malfoy?" I asked, softly.  
  
He turned his head to look at me, but didn't say anything.  
  
"I was just wondering-"  
  
"Look, just forget it."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Just forget it. If you don't want to do this, then fine. If it's too much trouble, then just forget about it" his voice was sour.  
  
"I never said I didn't want to-"  
  
"You didn't bloody have to."  
  
"What? Malfoy, I don't think it's too much trouble, I just-"  
  
"I SAID FORGET IT" he yelled.  
  
I stared at him, willing myself not to get angry or upset. Before I could do either, he pushed off the fence and walked off. 


	40. Chapter Forty

I didn't speak to Malfoy again until Wednesday. The day of the quidditch match.  
  
I had just finished wishing Harry and Ron good luck, and was walking out to the stands, when I literally ran into him.  
  
"Jesus, Granger, trying to injure me or something?"  
  
"Sorry" I mumbled.  
  
"So you bloody should be."  
  
I cringed. So that was it? We were just going to go back to the way we were before? My jaw set. I wasn't going to let that happen.  
  
"Oh, and Malfoy?"  
  
"What?"  
  
I looked up, and met his eye. He was frowning.  
  
"Good luck."  
  
He blinked at me.  
  
"Pardon?" He asked, obviously ruffled.  
  
I forced a little smile.  
  
"Just wishing you good luck, for today."  
  
"What?" He said, again, and I rolled my eyes.  
  
"I spent alot of precious time trying to save that butt of yours, I'd appreciate if you didn't just go out there and-"  
  
He cut me off, to my great surprise, by kissing me. It was a rough kiss, and we broke apart almost instantly. I mustn't have been thinking straight, because as soon as we broke apart I blurted out;  
  
"Why ... why did you call me mudblood?"  
  
Malfoy ran a hand through his hair, and it occurred to me how much I liked it when he did that.  
  
"Because, Granger, that's what you're supposed to be. You're not supposed to be anything else."  
  
I stared at him, non-comprehending, and he shook his head.  
  
"Look, I said forget it. It doesn't matter."  
  
"Yes, it does" I said, flatly.  
  
All he did was shake his head again, and walk away.  
  
---  
  
The match was an eventful one.  
  
Within the first fifteen minutes, three players were in the hospital wing, and it had started to rain again.  
  
An hour into the game, I was just cheering Ron as he made a brilliant save when Professor McGonagall came over to speak with me.  
  
"Miss Granger?" She called, above the cheers, and the thunder.  
  
"Yes, Professor?"  
  
"There is something you need to know."  
  
She grabbed my arm, and pulled me out from the stands. When we had retreated a fair distance from the crowds, she spoke again.  
  
"Early this morning, the Ministry of Magic managed to capture a Mr Wilder."  
  
My eyes must have been bugging out, but I didn't care. They'd caught him!!  
  
"He was attempting entry into the Malfoy's manor when he was apprehended."  
  
I opened my mouth once or twice, unable to think of what to say.  
  
"I ... that's ... that's fantastic!" I cried. "Does Malfoy-"  
  
"Yes. Mr Malfoy was informed this morning. We decided that-"  
  
She was cut off by the sound of the crowd going wild. I looked over, and saw that Harry and Malfoy were streaking towards the same spot, just to the left of the Hufflepuff stands.  
  
"Oh, my ..." McGonagall breathed.  
  
We stared, transfixed, as the two raced against each other.  
  
Past the Hufflepuff stands, around the back, up for a moment, and then down again a split second later.  
  
Despite the fact that I was loyal to Gryffindor, I still found myself secretly hoping that Malfoy would catch the golden snitch, for once.  
  
"Excuse me, Miss Granger" Professor McGonagall pushed past me, and began to stride back towards the stands. I hurried after her, aware of the bottom of my robes getting coated with mud as I went.  
  
When I got back up to the top of the Gryffindor stands, I eagerly listened out for who was in the lead.  
  
"Gryffindor leading by a whopping one hundred and sixty points! Even if Malfoy manages to catch the golden snitch, it won't be enough to bring Slytherin to victory!"  
  
My jaw hung open. One hundred and sixty points? I knew that Ron had definitely improved his keeping abilities over this past year, and that Gryffindor had been leading the entire game, but that was insane.  
  
"One hundred and sixty points?!" I cried, making Lavender, who was in front of me, turn around.  
  
"You better beleive it! Ron's the best keeper Hogwarts has ever had!"  
  
Pavarti, who was sitting next to Lavender, rolled her eyes.  
  
"That and the Slytherin keeper got knocked out by a bludger. Nobody's guarding their hoops!"  
  
"Well" Lavender's cheeks turned a little pink. "That, too."  
  
As I watched, it became clear that the Slytherin team had been in no way prepared to lose their keeper. As hard as they tried, the quaffle still sailed in again and again.  
  
Our attention was once again drawn to the race for the golden snitch, as Harry and Malfoy raced together towards the Gryffindor stands. Straight towards us.  
  
It was then that I saw it. The snitch. It was hovering just a few inches away from Lavender's arm, although she appeared not to have noticed.  
  
I tapped her on the shoulder.  
  
"Uh, Lavender-"  
  
In a blurr of red and green, Harry and Malfoy were right in front of me, trying to manouver around the screaming spectators.  
  
I saw a hand close around the golden snitch, but it moved again before I could distinguish whos it was. 


	41. Chapter FortyOne

As the pair flew away, Malfoy lifted his fist and started shaking it around.  
  
From between his fingers, two little golden wings could be seen.  
  
"DRACO MALFOY HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH, EARNING SLYTHERIN ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY POINTS!"  
  
The rain was getting heavier, and the thunder drowned out the sound of the Gryffindor's cheering.  
  
Even though I was cheering along with the others, I still felt a little bad for Malfoy. He had, for the first time, beaten Harry to the snitch and yet nobody was cheering for him. His teammates didn't even pat him on the back for a job well done.  
  
As soon as we all started filing back down to head back to the castle, I broke away and ran over to where Malfoy was, heading towards the changerooms.  
  
"Malfoy!" I called, above the sound of the rain.  
  
"Come to rub it in, have you?" He glared at me.  
  
"No" I said, slowly. "Actually, I came to congratulate you. But if you're just going to-"  
  
My statement was interrupted by a huge clap of thunder. I jumped, taken by surprise, and managed to slip over and fall into the mud.  
  
"Oh! Oh ... darn it." I tried to stand up, but the mud was slippery.  
  
I looked up, and saw that for the first time in days, Malfoy was laughing. I glared at him and, on impulse, grabbed his hand and yanked him down as well.  
  
"And what are YOU laughing at?" I said, grinning.  
  
"I was muddy already, Granger, it doesn't really matter what-" he stopped talking when he noticed I was laughing at him. He rolled his eyes, leaned over and kissed me.  
  
We were sitting in a puddle, it was absolutely pouring with rain, and we were covered in mud, but I didn't care. I kissed him back, and felt him draw me closer with one arm. When we finally broke apart to breathe, I smiled at him.  
  
"I heard about Wilder. I can't beleive they finally caught him!"  
  
Malfoy tilted his head up, letting the rain run all over his face. Then he looked back down at me, and smiled.  
  
"Took them long enough" he said, with a smirk. But I could tell that he was just as relieved as I was.  
  
He leaned down to kiss me again ...  
  
"Oh, lookie what we have here."  
  
We broke apart, and I recognized Blaise from my dream.  
  
"Isn't that just sweet?" He said, in a mocking voice. His tone changed. "For God's sake, Malfoy, that's so-"  
  
"Oh, would you just shut up?" Malfoy interrupted, angrily. "I don't care, you hear? I don't give a crap about what-"  
  
"I think ... I think I'd better go" I said, quietly.  
  
Before anybody could argue, I stood up clumsily and started walking away. I was sick of people fighting because of me.  
  
I hadn't made it far before Malfoy grabbed my shoulder and swung me around. He glared at me.  
  
"First you tell me you don't want to forget it and then you-"  
  
"Look, I don't want you to have to go against all of your friends, all because of me. It's not because I want to forget it or anything, it's just that-"  
  
"I don't care, Granger, I really don't. They'll get over it, they follow whatever I do, eventually."  
  
"So you ... you really don't mind?"  
  
He reached out and pulled me towards him. He wrapped his dripping wet arms around my soaked body.  
  
"I think I can deal."  
  
I lifted my head from his shoulder and kissed him.  
  
---  
  
When I returned to Gryffindor tower, completely soaked through, there was a party taking place. Ron seemed to be the centre of attention, and it took me a while to locate Harry. He was sitting alone in one of the armchairs in the corner, sipping dejectedly on a butterbeer.  
  
As much as I wanted to go upstairs and get changed, I decided to go and talk to him.  
  
"Harry?"  
  
He looked up, but didn't smile.  
  
"Hey, Hermione."  
  
"You okay?" I asked. Stupid question, because he obviously wasn't, but I couldn't think of anything to say.  
  
"I'm fine" he said, coldly.  
  
I sank down into one of the chairs beside him, very aware of the water that was now seeping into the material.  
  
"No, you're not" I said, quietly. "Look, nobody blames you for not catching the snitch, Harry. And we won, anyway, so it's not like-"  
  
"Well I blame me! It was right there, I SAW it. We could have made the biggest victory in Hogwarts history if I'd caught it."  
  
"You tried your best, nobody can expect more than that. And, well, Slytherin lost anyway. So it's not like Malfoy's going to get much credit even though he did catch it."  
  
This seemed to brighten Harry up a little and, after a while, I managed to convince him to join the rest of the party.  
  
---  
  
Early the next morning, we were all forced to go to bed by Professor McGonagall.  
  
I still wasn't in the least bit tired, and must have layed in bed, staring at my celing for hours before I finally drifted off.  
  
When I opened my eyes in that familiar corridor once again, I was extremely surprised. Wilder had been caught, what else was there for me to dream about?  
  
I pressed my eye carefully to the crack, and saw Malfoy's mother sitting in the middle of a room. It was the same room that had been in my first dream.  
  
To my surprise, she was staring straight at me.  
  
"Hermione Granger. Come in" she said, in a friendly voice.  
  
I stared at her. How did she know that I was-  
  
"Don't worry, you can open the door. It's okay."  
  
Slowly, I pushed on the door. It opened, allowing me to step into the room.  
  
"How did you-"  
  
"I suppose you've been wondering why you've been having those dreams. About my son."  
  
I nodded, slowly, unable to think of anything to say. How much did she know?  
  
"Please forgive me, Miss Granger. I didn't know what to do. I knew that Lucius wasn't going to be able to hold back the ... the others. But I also knew that Draco didn't want to do the task that was set for him."  
  
She sighed, and looked at me apologetically. I was surprised to see that tears were forming in her eyes.  
  
"I ... I had heard that you are the smartest in your grade. The smartest person Draco knows. I knew you weren't exactly ... friends. But I was hoping that you would be able to help him" her voice broke, but she continued. "I am very practiced in Occlumency, you see. I projected images from Draco's and my past, hoping that you would catch on and be able to ... to help him."  
  
My eyes were bugging out. All this time, Narcissa Malfoy had been the one giving me the visions? She continued doggedly, before I could make sense of all the questions forming in my mind.  
  
"I gave you painful images from Draco's past I ... I wanted you to feel sorry for him. To help him. And you did, Miss Granger. You saved my son's life."  
  
I realised in a rush that my eyes were filling up with tears, too.  
  
"No" I said, softly. "If you hadn't given me those ... images, I wouldn't have been able to help him."  
  
Before either of us knew it, Narcissa stood up, walked over, and embraced me. 


	42. Chapter FortyTwo

We stood there for a long time, not saying anything, until finally I asked;  
  
"But why did you pick me? I'm not ... I'm not a pureblood. And Mal- I mean Draco- pretty much hated me."  
  
Narcissa let go of me, and walked back over to the chair. She stood behind it, resting her hands on the top.  
  
"I believe there is a time when old prejudices must be put aside" she stated. "My son's life was in danger, so I believed that that time had come."  
  
I nodded, slowly.  
  
"So all of the images ... they've all been you?"  
  
"Yes. At first ... I must admit I might have gone a little over the top, but I was worried sick. Lately they've been on a more, shall we say, need to know basis" she gave me a pointed look, and I felt my cheeks redden.  
  
If she was practiced in occlumency, practiced enough to have been able to conjour those images in my mind, she would certainly know about ... whatever it was between Malfoy and I.  
  
She must have noticed my discomfort, and she smiled at me, weakly.  
  
"I just ... I thought you ought to know. Where the visions were coming from" she said.  
  
"So does that mean I won't be having them anymore?" I asked, and she shook her head, still smiling.  
  
"Need to know basis" she repeated, with a wink.  
  
---  
  
I awoke with a start, the picture of Narcissa Malfoy winking at me still seemingly hovering in front of my eyes.  
  
After all that time ... I finally knew what had been going on. I felt as though a weight, one that I had been so used to carrying that I barely thought of it, had been lifted from my shoulders.  
  
I glanced at my alarm clock, and saw that it was going to go off in fifteen minutes anyway. I pressed the snooze button, and padded off to take my shower.  
  
---  
  
When I came down to breakfast, the Gryffindor table was still in mild celebration. I couldn't find a seat anywhere near Harry, Ginny or Ron, who were all still being adored by all of the quidditch fans.  
  
Just as I was about to take a seat by myself, I noticed that Malfoy was hovering in the doorway. I caught his eye, and made a motion for me to come over to him. When I reached him, he grabbed my arm and dragged me away from the people going into the great hall.  
  
"I heard you ... talked to my mother" he said, avoiding my eye. His tone suggested that he was deeply humiliated by this. I smiled.  
  
"Yeah, I did. I can't believe it was her, the whole time! I would never have-"  
  
"What? So, you mean ... you're not mad?"  
  
I blinked at him.  
  
"Mad? Why would I be mad? She was just trying to help you."  
  
"Well, yeah" he looked uncomfortable, and ran a hand through his hair. "But she was mucking around inside your brain. Isn't that kind of ... weird?"  
  
I thought about it for a moment. It was definitely a bit strange to know that somebody could read your mind that easily, but I knew that it had all been for the best.  
  
"It IS kind of weird. But she meant well and ... you're still alive. That's all that matters, right?"  
  
"Why, Granger, I didn't know you cared" he said, a familiar little smirk spreading on his face.  
  
"Yes you did."  
  
With that, I grabbed his tie and pulled him down until his lips met mine.  
  
I was just showing him how much I cared when I noticed Ginny standing behind Malfoy, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open.  
  
I pulled away automatically, and felt my cheeks heat up.  
  
Malfoy, however, didn't miss a beat. He stood up straight ,placed one arm around my shoulders, and smiled a winning smile at Ginny.  
  
I swallowed.  
  
"Hey, Ginny. While you're here ... I'd like you to meet my boyfriend, Draco."  
  
---  
  
THEEEEEEEND  
  
---  
  
A/N: Thank you so much to all my wonderful reviewers! I'm sorry it took so long for me to post this, and sorry it's such a short chappie, I had it written a few days ago but came down with a really bad virus and had to wait to be able to post it.  
  
Hehe ... according to my word processor I've spent a grand total of 101.5 hours on this story !!!!  
  
In the future I may or may not be posting a sequel, so keep an eye out!!  
  
XoXoXoX 


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